I 


ss 


Sida 


! 


= 


ati Pas 
OLENA 


AER | 
\ 
aS 
! 

Hi} 


tt 
41) 


MITT 


manna 
OE 


i 


DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 


ANEW DAY FOR 
HISTORIC WESLEYAN 


By 
WILLIAM F. QUILLIAN 


PRINTED FOR WESLEYAN COLLEGE 


PUBLISHING HOUSE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH 
T 7 oT 


BISHOP W. N. AINSWORTH 


Chairman Board of Trustees; former 
President of Wesleyan 


Jr] 30 
AF 7 Lys 7 
Aba 8 YY 


DEDICATED 


To THE DAUGHTERS OF WESLEYAN 


*Many daughters have done worthily, but thou excellest them all”’ 
Proverbs 30: 29 


WESLEYAN 
(Chartered 1836) 
THE PIONEER COLLEGE FOR WOMEN 
MACON, GEORGIA 


172419 


ow 


BUILDING AND FINANCE COMMITTEE 


WILLIAM D. ANDERSON, Chairman WALTER H. PEACOCK 


Joun S. CANDLER JAMEs H. PORTER 
SAMUEL C. DosBBs WILLIAM F. QUILLIAN 
R. O. JONES JAMEs M. ROGERS 
CHARLES B. LEwIs WILLIAM R. ROGERS, JR. 
ORVILLE A. PARK SAM TATE 


FOREWORD 


By special resolution of the Board of Trustees the President of 
Wesleyan College was requested to prepare for publication a 
monograph setting forth the essential facts in connection with the 
Expansion Program of the institution. This he has been pleased 
to do and now sends forth this publication to the lovers of young 
womanhood and to those who believe in the place and perma- 
nency of the Christian college. 

No word is too strong, no praise is too high to express the ap- 
preciation which is felt for the Building and Finance Committee, 
the Board of Trustees, the Alumnae, the faculty and student body, 
and the entire constituency of Wesleyan College. They have all 
given of their best for this beloved and historic institution and 
will stand back of this noble enterprise through all the years to 
come. 

WILLIAM F. QUILLIAN. 


I do not doubt that the movement for a Greater Wesleyan shall be successful. When in 
China with my family several years ago, Mrs. Sun Yat Sen, the wife of the first president of 
China, met us immediately we arrived and told us of her great obligation to Wesleyan, where 
she and her sisters had been educated. She was regarded as the first woman in all China. It 
was apparent that the influence of Wesleyan has meant much io the Chinese people. Many of 
the South’s finest traditions of education and culture center in this institution, and il is incon- 
ceivable that our people will be less than generous in meeting its needs of expansion.—William 
J. Harris, United Scates Senator. 


10. 
. ACCEPTANCE OF BUILDINGS: President William F. Quillian, D.D. 
12% 


PROGRAM 
OPENING EXERCISES 
WESLEYAN COLLEGE 

SEPTEMBER, 12, 1928 


. DoxoLocy. 
. DEVOTIONAL EXeErcIsEs. Rev. Charles R. Jenkins, D.D., Former Presi- 


dent Wesleyan College. 


. BAPTISMAL SERVICE: Mary Lane Edwards, infant granddaughter of 


Harry Stillwell Edwards and Mary Roxanna Lane Edwards (Class of 
1876). 


. WELCOME ADDRESSES: 


OG RY WV Ge cee eta 90S fees cases Miss Essie Mae Cobb, President 
For Student Government Association.. Miss Martha Lamar, President 


. VIOLIN SoLo: Mrs. Glenn Priest Maerz. 
. PRESENTATION OF BuILDINGs: Hon. William D. Anderson, Chairman 


Building and Finance Committee. 


. MESSAGES OF GREETINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS. Read by Hon. O. A. 


Park, Chairman of the Executive Committee. 


. VocaL Soto: Prof. Edgar H. Howerton. 
. Appress: Bishop Warren A. Candler, D.D., LL.D., Senior Bishop of the 


Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
Hymn No. 461. 


Hymn No. 408. 
BENEDICTION. 


6 


HISTORIC WESLEYAN AND HER FUTURE 


WESLEYAN COLLEGE stands as a monument to the vision and 
wisdom of brave and consecrated leaders who proved their faith 
by their works. In the year 1923 Daniel Chandler delivered an 
address at the University of Georgia urging the cause of higher 
education for women upon the people of Georgia and the South. 
This address made such an impression that five thousand copies 
were printed and distributed throughout Georgia. As a result of 
this and other efforts which were put forth by leading Georgians, 
the present Wesleyan College was chartered in 1836 as the Georgia 
Female College. Later the institution became the property of the 
two Georgia Conferences and the name was changed to Wesleyan 
Female College. Under this name the college has rendered a 
magnificent service, and in 1919 the name was changed to Wesley- 
an College. In the year 1924 the Expansion Program was begun, 
which has resulted in the increase of the endowment from $215,000 
to $650,000, the purchase of a magnificent campus of one hundred 
and seventy acres, and the erection of thirteen beautiful and im- 
posing buildings, finished in brick and marble. They are thorough- 
ly modern, fireproof, and admirably adapted to their purpose. 
These buildings were occupied by the splendid student body on 
September 12, 1928. Thus Wesleyan enters upon a second cen- 
tury of high and heroic service. 

“One of the greatest forward steps in education that the South 
has made for some time, . . . the beginning of a new day in 
Southern education. a 

That, according to Dr. Harvey W. Cox, president of Emory 
University, was what the opening of Wesleyan’s ninety-second 
session, the first in her new three-million dollar plant, meant. 

The 12th of September, 1928, marks the celebration of this 
colossal achievement, the completion of thirteen magnificent 
buildings within a period of twenty months, and the complete 
change in home and surroundings of the entire College of Liberal 
Arts. The opening exercises were held in the new gymnasium, 
since the chapel was not included in the initial group of buildings. 
Bishop Warren A. Candler, senior bishop of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, delivered the address of the occasion. 

It is a significant fact that the college which has just made this 
step of greatest advancement in woman’s education in the South, 
is also the college which made the first step toward the higher 
education of women in the world. 


7 


(o.<) 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


The Bishop spoke of that first great step, nearly a hundred years 
ago, which parallels in courage and foresight that of to-day. 
From an article written by the first president of Wesleyan, Dr. 
George Foster Pierce, we have this description of the college in 
1840: 

“The college building is located on a commanding eminence 
midway between the business portion of the city and the village 
of Vineville. Near by is the majestic pine forest; on the north are 
the ruins of old Fort Hawkins. 

‘The college edifice is an imposing structure, one hundred and 
sixty feet long and sixty feet wide, rising four stories high in the 
center and crowned with a cupola. There are fifty-six rooms in 
the building. 

“The yard immediately around the college has been graded to 
a level, extending over a lot of four acres; the remaining section 
is covered with a fine growth of oaks, which have been reserved 
for ornaments. 

“And as we listened to the story of Wesleyan’s first building, 
of the hardships and crises that came to her through the years 
following, our eyes wandered through the tall windows of the 
gymnasium to the brick buildings of to-day—thirteen in all, in 
brick and marble, the three dormitories, the white-columned 
logia, the handsome library building, the two classreom buildings. 
We saw the stretches of campus ending in the ‘majestic forests’ 
beyond, and realized at once the full significance of this second 
step toward the ‘advancement of education in the South.’”’ 

In the early days of Wesleyan, Dr. Pierce said of the college: 

“Tf it is allowed to fail, it will be a blot upon the Church to 
which it belongs, a disgrace to the State, and a misfortune to 
generations to come.” 

Eight years ago, Dr. W. F. Quillian, president of Wesleyan 
said: 

‘“What should be done for Weseyan College can be done and, by 
the grace of God and the good will of the people, it shall be done.” 

On September 12, 1928, the thousands who were gathered to 
witness the ninety-second opening of the college saw the realiza- 
tion of the highest hopes of these two and of all who have labored 
in the interest of the first chartered college for women.—Alumne 
Magazine, 1929. 


If England or New England had such a college—the first regularly chartered in the world 
for conferring degrees upon women—ils people would already have given it many millions.— 
W. N. Ainsworth, Bishop, Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 9 


CONGRATULATIONS ON THE OPENING DAY 


WHILE thousands of friends of Wesleyan were gathering for the 
opening exercises of the college, hundreds of others who could not 
be present were turning in thought to the ‘‘Oldest and Best.” 
Messages came from many of them. From officials of Church 
and State, from presidents of other colleges, from former teachers 
and alumnz poured telegrams and letters of congratulation. 
President Calvin Coolidge sent informal congratulations through 
his Secretary, Mr. Everett Sanders. The Honorable O. A. Park 
read scores of these messages, among them the following: 


It is a joy and pleasure to extend to Wesleyan, the mother of female col- 
leges, congratulations and felicitations on the opening of her magnificent new 
home. Wesleyan has put in motion a train of influences that are destined to 
roll as far as civilization extends. As governor of the State I ask that all 
Georgians unite with me in paying tribute to Wesleyan in the triumph of 
her achievements and accomplishments. L. G. HARDMAN, Governor. 


This college is an honor and glory to the city of Macon and to all who have 
helped in any way in bringing these buildings to a successful completion, 
and it ought to receive the full support not only of this city, but of the State 
and nation. LUTHER WILLIAMS, Mayor of Macon. 


From distant Tokyo I wire my congratulations and best wishes on the oc- 
casion of the opening of the new Wesleyan. May God greaily bless the dear 
old college in this new day. W. N. ArINswortH, Bishop to the Orient. 


Permit me to congratulate Wesleyan and the friends of Wesleyan. As the 
college moves into her new and magnificent quarters her daughters, in com- 
mon with the men and women of Georgia and of the South without regard to 
Church affiliations, expect her to lead where great mornings break. They 
pray that the new Wesleyan will remain true to the fine standards of Chris- 
tian womanhood established by the old Wesleyan. 

SENATOR WALTER F. GEORGE. 


Senator William J. Harris was present in person and extended 
hearty congratulations and good wishes. 


On this memorable occasion, amid these ideal surroundings and with the 
immediate prospect of an even more remarkable career of distinguished and 
ennobling service, Mercer University is rejoicing with Wesleyan and de- 
voutly wishing for adequate support and unfailing wisdom for an uncom- 
parable program in which sound scholarship and Christian culture may 
abide and abound. SpriGHT DOWELL, President Mercer University. 


Because of the distinct impression Wesleyan College has mad2 upon the 
higher education of women and the position of commanding influence already 
attained, because of the devotion of her daughters to high ideals of service 


me) A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


in every field of honorable endeavor, and because of the greater future now 
stretching out before her in consequence of the completion of this modern 
and magnificent plant, Shorter College, through its president, sends hearty 
greetings, warm congratulations, and best wishes of a sister institution of 
the great commonwealth of Georgia. 

W. D. Furry, President Shorter College. 


In behalf of Agnes Scott and all her alumnz, we wish to extend hearty 
congratulations to Wesleyan and her daughters on the opening of your new 
plant. The ninety-two years of your development have given to your in- 
stitution a flavor—beauty, love, loyalty, truth—which furnish an ideai 
setting for the loveliness and completeness of your new home. 

We hope that for generations to come you may continue to render to the 
young women of Georgia and of the South the fine service that has hitherto 
characterized Wesleyan and of which all of us are proud. 

J. R. McCain, President Agnes Scott College. 


It is with unusual interest and pleasure that I congratulate you in your 
wonderful achievement in the construction of twelve magnificent buildings 
with which to carry on the great work of the first chartered college for wom- 
en in the world, whose influence for good has been felt around the world. 

This is but an evidence of other buildings to be needed in the future, 
which will be necessary to take care of the increased attendance from year to 
year. 

My interest in the Conservatory of Music, to occupy the old home of Wes- 
leyan, is equally as great as that in the new plant at Rivoli, and I con- 
gratulate you on your wisdom in this movement. I sincerely trust and be- 
lieve it will be the greatest Conservatory of Music in the Southeast. 

As president of the Macon News I count myself fortunate in having been 
reared in a community influenced so greatly by the ideals of Wesleyan Col- 
lege and to have supported, through the columns of the News for thirty years 
this great institution. R. L. McKinney, President Macon News. 


An editorial in the Macon Telegraph expressed the greetings 
and good will of the editor, Hon. W. T. Anderson. 


A hundred years ago, to the mind of a citizen of Macon, came the idea of 
an institution for the higher education of girls, to give them an equal chance 
with their brothers; and the children of both a place in the sun. 

Who this man was is not now known, nor does it matter greatly. The seed 
was in the fertile soil. He gathered around him a group of friends, inspired 
them with his vision and zeal, and gradually in the immediate years that fol- 
lowed, a college was planned; then chartered and organized. 

Devoted men and women nursed the tender plant through four generations 
of change. Financial panics and wars have troubled its life, and poverty, 
the direst, has at times blighted it, but the ideals on which it rested were of 
God. Such ideals are immortal. The college grew slowly, but always it 
grew. To-day, out under the blue skies, framed in the green of noble forests, 
bathed by morn and by eve in the splendors of the sun, the century plant is 
in full bloom, its message on every breeze. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN II 


As a lifelong friend of Wesleyan, an humble citizen, as a Georgian and an 
American, permit me to congratulate you, and the men and women who 
have so ably seconded your labors, on the fulfillment of the dream of our 
ancestors. They clothed in homespun the little first-born daughter of Macon; 
you have arrayed her in fine linen. They sheltered her as best their resources 
and times would permit; you have given her a palace to dwell in and crowned 
her with immortelles. Enthroned upon the eternal hills, she holds the lamp 
of learning for all generations to come. Worthily you share in the glory of 
her destiny. HARRY STILLWELL EDWARDS. 


From Ruby (Jones) Grace, president of the Alumne Associa- 
tion of Wesleyan, who was out of the city, came this message: 


Wesleyan alumnez are thrilled with pride and gratification to-day. Heart- 
felt congratulations on your splendid achievement. With Solomon of old, 
we desire an understanding heart and pray as he did in dedicating the mar- 
velous temple that we may be taught the good way wherein we should walk. 
Welcome to the new students. 


Congratulations and felicitations upon your great achievement. It marks 
a new era in education in Georgia. May the new college year be the very 
best in Wesleyan’s history. My prayers and best wishes for you and for 
those who labor with you. WALTER ANTHONY, 
President Board of Education, South Georgia Conference. 


Regards to all and congratulations on the opening of the new Wesleyan. 
Sorry I cannot be with you. James H. Porter, Trustee of Wesleyan. 


As one of the alumne trustees I shall be present on Wednesday at the 
Opening exercises at new Wesleyan. Would that I could find a way to get 
the Administration Building! I long to see it already finished! 

EpITH COLEMAN. 


The Dawson Wesleyan Club sends greetings and congratulations on the 
dedication of Greater Wesleyan. ELLA MELTON, President; 
Dorotuy Dozier, Reporter. 


Congratulations and best wishes for the biggest and best year ever. 
J. E. B. Houser, 
P. V. HARRELSON. 


Keenly regret that I cannot be present in person to share the joy of dear 
old Wesleyan’s ninety-second opening. Love and esteem for my dear Alma 
Mater grow in retrospect. The great profits of four happy years cause me to 
envy the freshmen who to-day join the lengthening list of those enriched by 
our loving mother. In the new home may you abundantly realize your high- 
est hopes for a glorious future. RutH Kasey. 


Best luck! Happiest of years for Wesleyan! Hope the spirit of old will go 
on with you in your new home. We who have gone will be with you, for the 
image of Wesieyan is engraved upon our hearts. We will not forget what she 
has done. Wlsh I were a freshman again! Dot McKay. 


12 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


Accept my profoundest joy for opening of new campus. 
INpUK Kim, Korea. 


Congratulations, faculty members and friends. Our best wishes for your 
continued success and glorious happiness. J. P. ALLEN, Macon, Ga. 


The Rotary Club of Macon congratulates you to-day upon the opening of 
your wonderful new plant. We have watched with never-ceasing interest its 
development from the day the ground was broken for the first new building. 
God grant you may be the inspiration to this State that we expect you to be! 

E. Roe Stamps, President. 


Bessie Tift College extends hearty greetings and congratulations to Wesley- 
an on this happy occasion. We rejoice with you in this larger service you are 
rendering to humanity and wish for you unbounded blessings in the future. 

AQUILA CHAMLEE, President. 


Hearty congratulations on your splendid achievements and best wishes 
for Wesleyan’s continued prosperity and usefulness. 
W. E. THompson, President La Grange College. 


The Bibb County Teachers’ Association appreciates Greater Wesleyan 
and offers best wishes for continued success and usefulness. 
Mari£E DuBose, President. 


The Macon Exchange Club extends to you and Greater Wesl2yan hearti- 
est congratulations upon the opening of your new plant and wishes for you 
a continuation of great achievement in the field of Christian education. 

HERBERT SMART, President. 


Messrs. Walker and Horn will arrive in Macon Tuesday night to be present 
at your opening exercises on Wednesday. WALKER and WEEKs. 


The Business and Professional Women’s Club congratulates Greater Wes- 
leyan and wishes for her a brilliant future. Marie DuBose, President. 


The Masivic Club extends most hearty congratulations to Greater Wes- 
leyan a marvelous achievement, also to Dr. Quillian upon the realization of 
his dreams. E. LEroy JOHNSON, President. 


It is a matter of genuine regret that a business engagement prevents my 
being present to-day. I trust that Wesleyan may have the greatest year in 
her long and splendid history. SAMUEL C. Doss. 


Let me thank you for the invitation to be present at the opening of your 
fall exercises and congratulate you and your trustees upon the remarkable 
development which you have had. PauL B. KERN. 


I thank you for the invitation to your opening. I wish I might be present 
for such an interesting occasion. Circumstances make this quite impossible. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 13 


I wish for Wesleyan under the new investiture the same success that has at- 
tended it through all the past. W. P. Few, President Duke University. 


I am in receipt of the announcement of the opening of Wesleyan College 
this fall in her new home. I shall ever retain keen interest in the welfare of 
this great institution, and I am hoping and praying that the days to come 
may bring with them the greatest joy and satisfaction in your work, as well 
as the most satisfactory year the school has known. A. FRANK SMITH. 


The President and Faculty of the University of Florida appreciate the in- 
vitation to be present at the opening of Wesleyan College, on September 12, 
in the gymnasium building of the new plant at the Rivoli Campus. It is 
hoped that Wesleyan College may have a most auspicious opening, and that 
the coming year may be the most successful in the history of the college. 

JouN J. TiGERT, President University of Florida. 


I extend to you and to the dear old college my congratulations and good 
wishes. I do not know any of our large institutions that has more faithfully 
maintained our Methodist ideals. I am sure this is in a large measure due to 
the President and the faculty. CHARLES C. JARRELL. 


I cannot fail to rejoice with you and the Wesleyan authorities in the great 
success that has been yours in the past, and to wish for Wesleyan a continua- 
tion of the fine spirit and the fine service that have always characterized her 
efforts. 

My mother, two aunts, first wife, only daughter, my niece, several cousins 
—indeed nearly all of those women who have been near and dear to me— 
are Wesleyan graduates of other years, and I am sure that those who have 
gone to the Great Beyond as well as the few who still remain on earth rejoice 
with me in Wesleyan’s success and progress. 

As an individual, then, and as President of Andrew College, so closely and 
pleasantly associated with Wesleyan, I bid the institution and you, as its 
head, Godspeed. F. G. Branca, President Andrew College. 


The remarkable educational accomplishments of Wesleyan in the past 
years will be exceeded in the future by reason of its improved facilities, and 
the Kiwanis Club of Macon desires to take occasion to convey to you and 
your associates our sincere congratulations on the opening of your magnifi- 
cent new plant. A. J. Lynpon, President. 


As president of the Macon Pilot Club, it gives me genuine pleasure, in be- 
half of our organization, to extend congratulations and cordial greetings upon 
the opening of Greater Wesleyan. 

Under your leadership the Macon Pilot Club has watched with sincere 
interest the progress Wesleyan has made. We rejoice with you in the realiza- 
tion that your dream of Greater Wesleyan has at last come true. 

That the ensuing year will be the most successful Wesleyan has ever en- 
joyed and that each anniversary of the opening of the new plant will find her 
advancement multiplied is the sincere wish of the Pilot Club. 

MONTEZ WOODLAND, President. 


14 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


It grieves me beyond expression that I cannot be with you on the opening 
day of Greater Wesleyan. 

My heart has been with you and my prayers for you in your bold under- 
taking and I rejoice with you to-day in your magnificent success. 

Give my love co all the teachers and to all the girls. 

As soor as J am able, I expect to visit you in your new quarters. 

A lifelong friend of Wesleyan, CHARLES LANE, 


Permit me to congratulate you upon this, the first opening exercises in the 
Greater Wesleyan. It is one of the greatest forward steps in education that 
the South nas made for some time, and I feel that it is the beginning of a new 
day for Southern education. I hope as the years come and go there may be 
many forward steps equal to the one you have just taken. Again let me con- 
gratulate you, your board, and your student body. 

Harvey W. Cox, President Emory University. 


This is to congratulate you upon the presence of Bishop Candler at your 
opening exercises and to thank you for the invitation to be present. I regret 
other duties made it impossible for me to attend. 

Hoyt M. Dosss, Bishop, M. E. Church, South. 


The Lions Club has asked me to express to you, the faculty, officials, the 
student body, and the loyal alumnez of Wesleyan, its great admiration for 
the magnificent achievement represented in the college’s new home. The 
Lions are no less happy than the other friends of Wesleyan. 

MARK ETHRIDGE. 


Admiral William Sims Benson, ranking admiral of the U. S. 
navy during the World War, expresses his interest by a memorial 
gift in honor of his mother, Catherine Brewer Benson, Wesleyan’s 
first graduate and, therefore, the first woman in the world to re- 
ceive a diploma from a woman’s college. His gift is a handsome 
copy of Raphael’s Madonna of the Chair, the best that could be 
secured abroad, and is now on its way across the seas. This gift 
comes to Wesleyan through the interest of Mrs. W. D. Lamar, 
who will formally present it to the college upon its arrival. 

Congratulations were extended by Judge John S. Candler, 
donor of the library, who, with Mrs. Candler spent the opening 
day at Wesleyan; by Dr. H. H. Sherman, Secretary of the Board 
of Education of the Southern Methodist Church; by Senator Har- 
ris of Georgia, and by others in person. 

There were silent messages of congratulation, too, in the baskets 
of lovely flowers which completely hid the improvised platform 
in the gymnasium. Their cards read: Rotary Club, Exchange 
Club, Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, Walker and Weeks, Architects; 
Dunwody and Oliphant, Associate Architects; the Macon Tele- 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 15 


graph, the Macon News, J. W. Burke Co., Southern Ferro Concrete 
Co., Chambers Lumber Co., J. P. Allen Co., Union Dry Goods 
Co., Danneberg Co., Sheriff's Office, and Pig ’n Whistle Sandwich 
Shop. 


ADDRESS BY BISHOP WARREN AIKEN CANDLER, 
SENIOR BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPIS- 
COPAL CHURCH, SOUTH 


BisHop WARREN A. CANDLER, senior Bishop of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, in his address upon the opening of the 
new college buildings at the beginning of the fall semester on Sep- 


BISHOP W. A. CANDLER 


Senior Bishop M. E. Church, South, former 
Chairman Board of Trustees. 


tember 12, made of the occasion ‘‘an hour filled with rich reward 
in the stimulation and generation of soulfulness’’ according to the 
Macon Telegraph. 

“‘TIn delivering his discourse on the history and accomplishments 
of this Alma Mater of the womanhood of Georgia in particular 
and the world in general, he was so well informed that he was 
encyclopedic; so fluent in his narrating that the occasion was much 
like a fireside tale told by a father who had pride of ancestry and 
hope in posterity; he was like a flower from an old-fashioned gar- 
den, so sweet was his manner, so remindful of the sturdy qualities 
of earlier days.” 


16 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


To the Bishop, himself long connected with the education of 
the State as president of Emory University, sister institution of 
Wesleyan and chartered in the same historical year of 1836, the 
day was a momentous one. He began: 


We celebrate to-day the opening of a new epoch in the history of an in- 
stitution of higher learning for women, the Wesleyan College, which has been 
called ‘‘the mother of female colleges,’’ and which was the first college in the 
world that conferred academic degrees upon women. 

On this happy occasion it is well to revert to some of the facts of its origin 
and early history. 

In a published address of its first president, the incomparable George Foster 
Pierce, delivered July 10, 1856, in Madison, Ga., during the commencement 
exercises of the Madison Female College, is this reference to its foundation 
and influence: ‘‘The college at Macon, first known as the Georgia Female 
College and since as the Wesleyan Female College, stands first upon the list 
in the order of existence. Projected in 1837, organized in January, 1839, it 
still lives, unencumbered and prosperous. It had its embarrassment and its 
foes, its debts and its disappointments, even while its classes were full and 
its annual contributions to society were brilliant and useful. Itself an experi- 
ment, it has vindicated the wisdom of its projectors, confounded the predic- 
tions of its enemies, and I might say has revolutionized public opinion, cor- 
rected its errors, enlightened its estimate of woman’s influence, and brought 
into play new elements of power, conservative and efficient.” 

Continuing his observations concerning the effect of the founding of the 
college upon the movement for the higher education of women, which it 
initiated and promoted, the eloquent orator and matchless preacher said: 
“A ‘female college’ has come to be the index of progress in the line of social 
advancement; the exponent of civilization, the front banner in the march of 
mind; the central diamond in the diadem of that wondrous age we glorify as 
the nineteenth century. Asa stone cast into the bosom of the sleeping waters 
agitates them to their utmost boundaries, so the refluent waves of the move- 
ment in Macon seventeen years ago are sweeping out in circles wider and 
wider still. Already the undulations are beating at the base of your farthest 
mountains, rolling unchecked over your Southern plains—on, still on, know- 
ing neither weariness or rest. Who shall, who would stay the tide? Albeit, we 
know not whereunto this thing may grow, who fears the consequences? Let 
it alone; there is healing in its wave. It is waking the pulse of vitality in the 
stagnation of ages. It is pouring its crystal waters into the Dead Sea of ig- 
norance and prejudice, on whose blasted shores no flower could bloom, and 
whose only fruit was but bitterness and ashes. Let it alone: it is bearing upon 
its bosom the intellectual fortunes of unnumbered families, and it is frighted 
with blessings for thousands more.”’ 

Back of the birth and influence of the institution thus so eloquently set 
forth by Bishop Pierce quickening and formative forces were operatng in 
Georgia on behalf of the higher education of women, which well deserve our 
consideration in this joyous hour. 

As far back as November, 1825, Hon. Duncan G. Campbell introduced in 
the legislature of Georgia ‘‘A Bill entitled An Act to establish a public eat 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 17 


of learning in this State for the education of females.’’ His object was to es- 
tablish an institution wherein young women could find educational advan- 
tages equal to those which young men then enjoyed. The measure was passed 
by the House of Representatives, but was rejected by the Senate, and thus 
failed of adoption. Three years later Mr. Campbell died, and the cause which 
he advocated seemed to languish and die; but the seed which he cast into the 
soil of Georgia was too vital to perish. It lay dormant until 1834, when it 
was revived by the memorable address delivered by Hon. Daniel Chandler 
at the annual commencement of the University of Georgia at Athens, advocat- 
ing with great power the higher education of women. 

The address of Mr. Chandler was printed and widely distributed. It made 
a deep and lasting impression on the public mind, and contributed no little 
to the establishment of ‘‘The Georgia Female College’’ (later called ‘‘the 
Wesleyan Female College’’) as well as several other less known institutions 
in Georgia for the higher education of women. 

The argument of Campbell and the appeal of Chandler were potential for 
good far beyond their own hopes and anticipations. In less than two years 
after the latter’s address at Athens ‘‘The Georgia Female College’’ was 
chartered by an act of the legislature approved December 23, 1836—a great 
Christmas: gift for Georgia when the commonwealth was little more than 
one hundred years old. 

The county of Bibb, organized in 1822, was only fourteen years of age, 
and the young city of Macon lacked a year of being so old as the county. 
The Methodists in Georgia were not numerous, and their financial resources 
were not abundant. Until 1831, but eight years before the college was opened, 
they were under the jurisdiction of the South Carolina Annual Conference. 
In that year the Georgia Conference, in which all Florida was included, was 
organized and held its first session in Macon on January 5. At that first 
session George F. Pierce, just from college and in his twenty-first year, was 
admitted on trial, and his distinguished father, Dr. Lovick Pierce, delivered 
a powerful address on behalf of the Georgia Educational Society, a society 
for the education of young preachers. These two events affected vitally the 
birth and succéss of the college which was yet to be, the first introducing to 
public notice and confidence the gifted George Foster Pierce, who eight years 
later became the first president of the institution and the latter intensifying 
the interest of the people of Georgia, especially the Methodists and the lead- 
ing men of Macon, in Christian education. 

For the second time the Georgia Conference met in the young city of Macon 
in January, 1835, and the body took under consideration the founding of an 
institution of higher learning for the education of women. This awakened 
profound interest in the city, and on the suggestion and advice of Elijah Sin- 
clair a meeting of citizens was held in the month of June following, at which 
R. A. Beall, Jere Cowles, Robert Collins, and Henry G. Lamar were ap- 
pointed as a committee to secure the influence of Revs. John Howard, Elijah 
Sinclair, and John W. Talley, resident ministers in Macon and members of the 
Georgia Conference, who should represent to the body the purpose of the 
citizens of Macon to establish in their city a college for the education of wom- 
en and express their willingness to place the proposed institution under the 
fostering care of the Methodist Conference. The proposal met the warm ap- 
proval of the people of the city. A site was chosen and a liberal subscription 


1* 


18 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


was made for the erection of the first building. Among the subscriptions was 
one of a rather remarkable nature: There was a demand for a new bank in 
the growing and prosperous young city, and in the application for a charter 
was incorporated a promise to give $25,000 toward the college if the charter 
was granted. 

Under these facts and prospects the matter was presented to the Georgia 
Annual Conference at its session in 1836, and the tender of the enterprise by 
the citizens of Macon was cordially accepted. 

The first subscriptions were paid in part, and that of the bank was met in 
full. Elijah Sinclair was appointed by the Conference to collect additional 
funds, and afterwards Dr. Lovick Pierce was appointed to succeed him in 
the work. They were so successful that the work of building on the command- 
ing site was pushed most zealously and hopefully, and by January 7, 1839, 
the first building was completed—an edifice one hundred and sixty feet long 
by sixty wide, at a cost of $85,000. 

In June, 1838, preceding the erection of the first building, the Board of 
Trustees elected the first president and one professor, and in the month of 
November following other professors and officers were chosen to complete 
the first faculty. 

Thus housed and manned the institution was formally opened on January 
12, 1839. On that day ninety young ladies were enrolled as pupils, which 
number was increased to one hundred and sixty-eight before the end of the 
first term. f 

Of the opening day John C. Butler, in his ‘‘ History of Macon,” says: “It 
was an occasion of great interest and deep and thrilling excitement. ‘A large 
and respectable number of the citizens of Macon assembled in the college 
chapel to witness the opening scene. The hopes and the fears of its friends, 
the predictions of its enemies, and the eager delight of the congregated pupils, 
all conspired to invest the service with an interest additional to its intrinsic 
importance.” 

Well might the opening of the first college in the world for the higher edu- 
cation of woman have elicited such enthusiastic attention. It identified for- 
ever the State of Georgia, the Georgia Methodist Conference, and the city 
of Macon with the beginning of one of the most far-reaching and blessed 
movements in the history of modern times. 

It is passing strange that an enterprise so good and great should have had 
enemies to make unfriendly predictions of its future. A great triumph had 
been achieved, but there were not wanting evil-disposed Sanballats to dis- 
credit the work and utter discouraging forebodings of impending disasters to 
the novel institution which they esteemed so ill-advised. 

Their depressing prophecies in connection with other distressing conditions 
contributed no little to their own fulfillment in part. 

The panic which fell upon the country in the early days of the administra- 
tion of the unwise Martin Van Buren as President, prostrated all forms of 
business, spread gloom throughout the land, and arrested progress in every 
direction. When the crash came the banks of Macon were found to be in- 
solvent. Many of the most ardent and generous friends of the college failed, 
and the financial exhibit of the institution showed about $80,000 in assets 
and $50,000 in liabilities. The buildings were mortgaged for $40,000, the 
discharge of which depended upon unpaid and uncollectible subscriptions. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 19 


Impatient creditors obtained judgments for their claims, to satisy which the 
college was put up forsale. The young president, George F. Pierce, borrowed 
the money in his own name and bought it in. The obligation was then as- 
sumed and met by Messrs. George W. Persons, William Bailey, John Rawls, 
James Dean, William H. Ellison, Ambrose Chapman, James A. Everett, 
and William Scott, each paying $1,000, except the last two named who paid 
$2,000 each. Other financial embarrassments, however, followed. In the 
final outcome James Everett, of Houston County, took up the last mortgage, 
and transferred the Georgia Female College to the Georgia Conference on 
condition that four girls nominated by himself or his executors should be 
educated by the institution im perpetuo. On this condition the Conference 
accepted the college, made it a distinctive Methodist school, and changed the 
name to the Wesleyan Female College by an act of the legislature, approved 
December 19, 1843.* 

Thus the college emerged from those distressing difficulties which threat- 
ened its life and went on its way of service with varying success under the 
presidencies of Dr. W. H. Ellison, the immediate successor of George Foster 
Pierce; Dr. Edward H. Myers; Dr. Osborne L. Smith; Dr. John M. Bonnell; 
and Dr. William Capers Bass. 

During the administration of Dr. Bass, that generous philanthropist, the 
late George I. Seney, of New York, greatly aided the college with a generous 
gift of $125,000, of which Bishop Pierce said on the occasion of the presenta- 
tion of a portrait of the benefactor to the institution: ‘‘ Mr. Seney’s gift has 
reinspired the hopes of the strong and the brave, dismissed the fears of the 
timid and despondent, and tranquilized the public mind with a feeling of 
confidence and security.” 

Since then the dear old college has continued to advance in resources and ex. 
pand its high service to both Church and State until this glad hour has struck 
which heralds the opening of a greater and more glorious epoch in its history. 

While we rejoice in its triumph over the appalling difficulties of the past 
and hail with gladness its radiant prospects of the victories in the future, it 
is not proposed to change its nature, revise its purposes, or renounce its spirit, 
by which it has heretofore fulfilled its mission and won its far-extended fame. 

One man in my presence said that the event which calls us together to-day 
““marks the new birth of Wesleyan College.”” The statement is incorrect 
and inadmissible. The holy institution has not waited for nearly a hundred 
years to be regenerated or born again. It is simply growing in the grace it 
has had from the beginning, and in the future as in the past it will walk by 
the same rule and mind the same things. 

With enlarged grounds, greater buildings, an enhanced library, improved 
apparatus, and superior faculties it will continue the work for which it was 
founded and which it has pursued unfalteringly through the many dangers, 
toils, and snares which by the blessing of God it has come during nearly a 
hundred years of its life consecrated to the service of God and the blessing of 
humanity. No change in character will dim the charm of its career or frus- 
trate the holy ends it was established to achieve. 

Tt will be “‘the old Wesleyan”’ more beautifully attired and mere richly 
endowed. - Its prosperity would be its adversity, if it were denatured. De- 
parture from tne purpose of its existence would be its death; and would the 


*The College has since redeemed these scholarships. 


20 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


usurpation of its place by an institution less worthy of the self-sacrifice which 
has made it in the past and less deserving of the confidence with which this - 
day we welcome with acclamations the dawn of its great future. 

The Old Wesleyan, like old wine, is pleasing to the taste and exhilarating 
to the spirit. It is better than any insipid decoction brewed from the raw 
ingredients of educational novelties. 

And what, let us inquire, are the characteristics by which Wesleyan Col- 
lege has been adorned and beautified. 

1. It has been, and is, strictly a college for the higher education of women. 
It has no affinity for coeducationalism and a masculinated culture. It has 
proceeded on the assumption that God designed that there should be two 
sexes in the world, women and men, and that masculine women and ef- 
feminate men are abnormalities alike unadmirable and unuseful. 

It has conformed to that noble type of education for women described by 
Hannah Moore, who said: ‘‘I call that education, not that which smothers a 
woman with accomplishments, but that which tends to consolidate a firm and 
regular character; that which tends to form a friend, a companion, and a wife. 
I call education, not that which is made up of the shreds of useless arts, but 
that which inculcates principles, polishes taste, regulates temper, cultivates 
reason, subdues the passions, directs the feelings, habituates reflection, 
trains to self-denial, and more especially, that which refers all actions, feel- 
ings, sentiments, tastes, and passions, to tne love and fear of God.” 

2. To the achievement of these high and holy results the Wesleyan College has 
been always, and please God always will be, devoted in its teachings and spirit, to 
evangelical Christianity. The education which it imparts, and ever will im- 
part, is of the distinctively Christian culture which seeks to cast down “‘all 
feasonings, or imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against 
the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedi- 
ence of Christ’’ (2 Cor. 10: 5). Its wholesome instruction, like the honey of 
the wood of Bethaven into which Jonathan dipped his rod, is enlightening to 
the eyes and invigorating to the soul. 

The dear old college has been in fact as well as in name, unequivocally 
Christian. It has never indulged the educational simony which seeks the 
gifts of the Church for its enrichment while denying the faith of the Church 
and living in the gall and bitterness of rationalism and held captive in the 
galling bonds of enslaving doubt. It is ever able to stand up, unembarrassed 
and undismayed, and give a Christian's account of itself when men demand 
of it: ‘‘ What do you more than others?” 

The historian Guizot says: ‘‘In order to make education truly good and 
socially useful, it must be fundamentally religious. It is necessary that it 
should be given and received in the midst of a religious atmosphere, and that 
religious impressions and religious observances should penetrate into all its 
parts.’’ And his words are profoundly true. 

Education augments human power, and if it be not accompanied by a 
dominant moral and religious power to direct the power which it imparts, it 
works ruin to itself and destruction to all around it. Knowledge detached 
from religion is a depraved thing which inspires conscienceless conduct in 
the individual and engenders lawless disorder in the social system. 

If these things be true of all education, they apply with special force to the 
education of women. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 2I 


Woman is the highest, holiest, and most precious gift of God to the world. 
Her mission and throne is in the family, the unit of civilization; and the most 
through, refining, and purifying education is required to make her most 
efficient, useful, and happy in that sphere where she carries in the folds of 
her garments the doom or destiny of unnumbered generations. 

If we wish to ascertain the political and moral condition of a nation and 
forecast its future, we must take account of the intellectual and religious 
quality of its womanhood; for the influence of women embraces the wnole of 
life, touching it at every point, and tainting or cleansing by its touch. A man 
takes counsel of his life; obeys his mother while she lives and long after she 
has passed away; and the thoughts and ideals he receives from these almost 
heavenly sources become principles stronger than death while they sanctify 
his life. 

Who can overstate the supreme importance of Christian education to 
qualify a woman for the high offices of wifehood and motherhood! A man 
without religion is a peril to the home of which he is the head; but a godless 
woman is a horror at the center of the household over which she presides; 
an abomination of desolation standing where it ought not. 

It has been the glory of the Wesleyan College to fit women for the most 
heavenly services in the world. Her daughters have gone forth to be corner 
stones in our civilization, ‘‘ polished after the similitude of a palace,”’ and the 
fragrance of their faith and love have filled their homes like the unfailing 
perfume which lingers in the precincts of the Church of Sophia. What would 
be the condition of our land if their influence had never issued from the halls 
of the Wesleyan College? What would be the case if it were suddenly with- 
drawn? What blight would fall on the future if the college were closed and 
it ceased to send forth daughters like the thousands who have gone out from 
her care and nurture during the period from the foundation of the institution 
until now, a period of nearly a hundred years? 

But this current of cultured life will never cease to run. This occasion 
which we celebrate to-day assures us that the fertilizing stream will continue 
to flow through all the years to come with increasing volume and enhanced 
beauty, its bright waters moving on forever, making parched areas to blossom 
like the rose and imparting life and joy to all around. 

In the contemplation of the never-ceasing production of Christian woman- 
hood, what visions burst on our sight. Consolers of sorrow, soothers of pain, 
solvers of perplexing problems, welcomers of children to the world, guides of 
youth in life, and guardian angels standing by the deathbeds of the aged— 
while they are found in the earth faith shall not fail nor hope grow dim, nor 
love expire. 

How happy must be the hearts of the glorified fathers and founders of the 
college as from their high seats in heaven they look down upon this scene 
and see the work of their hands established beyond all their fears and hopes. 
From afar we salute them and give praise to their far-sighted wisdom and 
heroic efforts which are embodied here. Since they toiled and suffered to 
found this power house of civilization, banks have failed, commercial enter- 
prises have perished, social revolutions have prevailed, and political institu- 
tions have tottered and fallen; but that for which they labored with tireless 
toil and struggled with undiscouraged zeal abides. 

And shall not we who have entered into their labors do something more 


22 A New Day for Historic WESLEYAN 


than accord them idle adulation and ineffectual applause? Shall we not lay 
to heart the lesson of their lives and build grander and more enduring struc- 
tures upon the foundations which they laid with many prayers and tears? 

We speak words of eulogy of them to-day and enjoy the fruit of their deeds. 
What shall be said of us a hundred years hence; and what good shall we trans- 
mit for the blessing of tne generation which will be then living? Having re- 
ceived so great and goodly a heritage from our ancestors shall we not enrich 
it further for the blessing of our posterity? 

Ah! indeed we will not prove faithless in the handling of this great trust; 
for if we did, we should pass away from the earth amid the execrations of 
our children and our children’s children, and enter heaven, if we reached that 
happy land, without the welcome of our fathers in the skies. 


APPRECIATION 


Wesleyan College acknowledges with gratitude the 
splendid codperation which has been given by the 
citizens of Macon and Middle Georgia in connection 
with the opening exercises of this historic institution. 
A most representative audience taxed the capacity of 
the spacious new gymnasium and overflowed into the 
halls of this building. The program was in keeping 
with the high purposes of the day. The authorities an- 
nounced with pleasure that the enrollment bids fair to 
exceed by far any previous year. The same is true of 
the Conservatory of Music and School of Fine Arts. 
We are grateful to all who have had a part in the expan- 
ston program of this institution and hereby express our 
most sincere thanks. 


My position on the subject of education is well known. It is my belief that the great mis- 
sion of Christian education is to set up the ideal standard before which State and private 
systems must justify themselves day by day. Wesleyan has played a noble part in the world's 
work by opening this avenue to women, ever upholding the cherished dreams that gave W. esleyan 
to the world. It is my sincere hope that the people of all Georgia will greet the appeal now 
being made to them with the generosity 1o which Wesleyan is so richly entitled.—Walter F. 
George, United States Senator. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 23 


ADDRESS BY HON. WILLIAM D. ANDERSON, PRESI- 
DENT OF THE BIBB MANUFACTURING COM- 
PANY, AND CHAIRMAN OF THE WESLEYAN 
BUILDING AND FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

The friends of education everywhere, all those who are interested in educa- 
tion under Christian influences, and more especially the host of Wesleyan 
lovers, can well afford to indulge a feeling of gratification on this occasion. 

What has been accomplished here is unique in many ways. I doubt if 
there is another case where a live, flourishing college, almost a century old, 


HON. W. D. ANDERSON 
Chairman Building and Finance Committee 


has been picked up and moved, lock, stock, and barrel, to a new site, three 
miles away, without any sort of interruption in its work. 

Some were reluctant, for reasons of sentiment, to make this move. While 
I believe that I have as much sentiment in my nature as any one, speaking 
for myself, the leaving of ‘‘the sacred walls of Old Wesleyan”’ brings no re- 
grets. Everything about Wesleyan that is really worth while—tts traditions, 
its great accomplishments, its ideals, and its hopes for greater service—have 
all been brought here, transplanted in a kindlier soil, clothed with a more 
comfortable and more attractive garment, and set down in an environment 
that is conducive to real growth and development. For the first time in its 
history, Wesleyan College is now measurably equipped to do the work for 
which it was founded. 

I venture the assertion that this marks the most complete transplanting of 
an educational institution on record. Neither a stick nor a stone has been 


24 A New Day ror Historic WESLEYAN 


moved. We walked out of the door of the old institution with nothing but 
our hand baggage, and took up our abode here in a beautiful new home, 
furnished and equipped from top to bottom with the best that money could 
wisely buy. 

I am sure that it is the first time that such a group of buildings has been 
brought to completion in the space of twenty months. Best of all, the job 
has been completed without a bobble, without a single disagreement, and 
without a harsh word said by any one connected with the work. 

For such a beautiful plant, for such a noble conception, for all that is at- 
tractive and inviting in these buildings, we thank our architects, Messrs. 
Walker & Weeks, of Cleveland, and their associates, Messrs. Dunwody & 
Oliphant, of Macon. 

For the speed with which the work has been done, for the high character of 
construction given us, and for the smoothness with which the project has been 
brought to completion, we thank our general contractors, the Southern Ferro- 
Concrete Company. They have been fair and liberal at every point, and the 
finished job, as it is, is a finer recommendation of them as master builders 
than any tribute I could pay. 

I also want to thank the O’Pry Heating and Plumbing Company, the 
Hatfield Electrical Company, the Cherokee Brick Company, and all the other 
subcontractors whose splendid work and whole-hearted coéperation have 
contributed to the success of the great undertaking. 

In this connection, I must not omit a word of praise for Mr. J. L. Maddocks, 
our clerk of the works, whose splendid enthusiasm and willingness to shoulder 
extra work and responsibilities has been a great help and a constant joy to 
all of us. 

It’s all fine, every one touching the work has been fine. 

It was splendid of the Central of Georgia Railway that they should put 
Wesleyan in the switching limits and thus save us thousands of dollars in 
freight on materials, and that they should build such a nice station for us 
and name it Wesleyan. 

In common justice, however, I must say that the greatest credit for bring- 
ing this magnificent undertaking to a successful conclusion is due our Presi- 
dent, Dr. W. F. Quillian. How he has stood up under the terrific load and 
strain that has been on his shoulders from the time the work began until this 
zood hour is beyond my comprehension. His unfaltering faith, his devotion 
to the institution, his unremitting attention to every detail of the work, his 
unfailing application to the task at hand through summer and winter, sun- 
shine and rain, and his superb courtesy and wonderful gentleness of spirit, 
have been a source of inspiration to all and are the real secret of our suc- 
cess. 

This enterprise is unique in another way. It is probably the first time 
that any great educational institution, not supported by public taxation, 
has pledged the future and its faith in its friends and supporters to the ex- 
tent of an indebtedness of $1,000,000. This means that the friends of educa- 
tion, of Christian education, of education under the auspices of the Church, 
have recognized that the teacning and training of the youth of our land is 
a necessity and can be classed with other things that are considered necessary 
to the economic life of the community. By our action in this respect, we have 
classed education as one of the fundamental things of life, a thing on which 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 25 


bonds can be issued with as much certainty as we would issue bonds on a 
factory or an office building or a block of stores. 

We stand here this morning with these grounds and these buildings mort- 
gaged for a round sum of $1,000,000 and begin business in them without a 
fear, without a tremor, but on the contrary with bright hopes and entire faith 
in the future and with a feeling of certainty that the Methodists of Georgia 
and Florida will provide the money to meet these bonds as they mature, 
and, more, that we may go forward with the erection of other needed buildings 
and complete our program of an investment of $3,000,000 in Wesleyan Col- 
lege. 

This undertaking signifies that the Trustees of Wesleyan College are awak- 
ing to the need of educating and training the young women of this section. 
I take it that by this time it is to be assumed that all thinking men and wom- 
en agree that the grace of God is the first need if the individual is to be saved 
and if society and civilization are to be saved. With that assumed, I will say 
that education of the proper type is an absolute need if our section of the 
country is to be saved. The eyes of the nation are turned on the Southeast. 
I am confident that we will have here during the next twenty-five years the 
greatest development that has occurred during a similar period in any other 
section of our country. Education alone will save this inheritance that be- 
longs to the people who live here and have preserved it to this hour. Nothing 
snort of educated and trained minds will prevent the boys and girls of this 
and the next generation from losing this inheritance and having it occupied 
by those who will come in from the outside and take possession of it unless 
we are equipped to do the job ourselves: Education of women, with the con- 
sequent enlargement of vision, will save the program of the Church, both at 
home and in the foreign fields. If che Church is to accomplish its mission, 
the finances necessary for this will be furnished by educated men and women, 
not by the ignorant and narrow-minded. If wealth and material success is 
to come to the people of this section, it will come because of educated and 
trained men and women who are thereby able to cope with problems that each 
day are as new as the shining face of the rising sun. The prosperity of any 
section can be measured by the amount of money that section invests in 
education. 

I am sorry, Mr. President, that I cannot turn over to you a completed 
proposition. On the contrary, I am rolling on to your shoulders a heavy re- 
sponsibility and a stupendous task. You must excite the liberality of our 
people so that they will pour into your treasury the money needed to com- 
plete this great enterprise and discharge its every obligation. You must point 
out to our people how backward we are in matters of education and how sure- 
ly it will pay them in dollars and cents to make an investment in education 
by contributing to Wesleyan. You must show our people that a contribution 
to the Greater Wesleyan Fund while they are alive, or a legacy in their wills, 
is a definite insurance policy for their heirs and for the permanency of what- 
ever estate they may leave. 

It is a hard task that I am committing to your hands, but I bid you to 
take hope, for at the end of December, 1927, the deposits of cash in the banks 
in Georgia amounted to the unbelievable sum of $376,328,434.88. Of this 
amount, $151,394,599.83 were savings deposits. 

In 1912, after we had made the largest cotton crop we had ever made, al- 


26 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


most 3,000,000 bales, the total deposits of all kinds in the banks of Georgia 
amounted to only $121,893,792.80. 

At the end of last year, after making only about 1,000,000 bales of cotton, 
the savings deposits in our banks exceeded the total deposits at the end of 
1912 by practically $30,000,000. 

We are growing rich here in Georgia, beyond our wildest dreams. The 
money is here and it is only necessary that our people be awakened to the 
responsibility of investing some of their wealth in a thing so necessary as 
education. 

So, on behalf of the Building and Finance Committee of the Board of Trus- 
tees of Wesleyan College, I deliver these buildings and this plant into your 
keeping, and I would be recreant to what I conceive to be my duty unless I 
pledged you additional effort and more of any of the substance with which I 
may be blessed in order to assist you in the great work here committed to your 
hands. 


ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM F. QUILLIAN, 
D.D., PRESIDENT OF WESLEYAN COLLEGE 
SINCE 1920 


ONE word stands out supreme as we enter the new period in the history of 
Wesleyan College. How true it is that ‘‘other men have labored, and we have 
entered into tneir labors.” 

We stand to-day surrounded by 
a great cloud of witnesses, faithful 
and earnest souls who through the 
years have invested their best 
thought and their highest hope in 
this historic institution. Out of 
the shadows of the past there 
come before us the figures of those 
who have a right to rejoice in the 
achievements of thishour. Daniel 
Chandler did much to awaken the 
interest of Georgia and of the 
South in the great cause of higher 
education for women. His ad- 
dress, delivered at the University 
of Georgia in 1823, was scattered 
broadcast and turned the thought 
of the people to the need of this 
type of education for young wom- 
en. The gifted Alexander H. 
Stephens was chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Education in the legisla- 
ture of the State of Georgia and 

WILLIAM F. QUILLIAN exerted his powerful influence to 

secure the passage of the bill which 

gave to the Georgia Female College her charter. The renowned Bishop George 
F. Pierce was the first president of this institution and rendered a signal service 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 27 


in placing the institution upon the highest spiritual and academic plane. His 
father, Dr. Lovick Pierce, joined with him in this noble enterprise. James O. 
Andrew, Ignatius A. Few, William J. Parks, Elijah Sinclair, Henry G. Lamar, 
Augustus B. Longstreet, and many others stood against the taunts and 
criticisms of those who discounted the place and dignity of women, and 
through their faith, their prayers, and their consecration have blazed the 
way for this mother of colleges for women. 

This institution was inaugurated as the Georgia Female College, having 
been granted her charter on December 23, 1836, just thirteen days after a 
charter had been granted to Emory College, now Emory University. Later 
the name was changed to the Wesleyan Female College, and the institution 
was brought under the direct control of the North Georgia, South Georgia, 
and Florida Conferences. In 1919, the word ‘‘Female’’ was stricken from the 
name, and to-day the college is known as Wesleyan College. Thus Method- 
ism in Georgia made ample provision for the higher education of its sons and 
daughters and opened wide these doors of privilege to young women and 
young men of every station and of all denominations. 

It must be emphasized and clearly understood that Wesleyan was char- 
tered ‘‘to do work of the same grade as tnat offered by tne leading institu- 
tions for men.’’ Tne college nas sought to maintain these high standards 
through the years, and at the present time the Wesleyan diploma is recog- 
nized by the leading universities of America and Europe. 

It would be impossible to call the roll of the long line of splendid men and 
women who have invested their life blood in this institution. Citizens, 
trustees, and members of the faculty have coéperated in every way possible 
to make Wesleyan the unique institution which it is to-day. For nearly a 
nundred years Cnristian ideals and principles have determined the policies 
of this institution. The young womanhood of Wesleyan have had their 
thoughts turned constantly toward the things that make for high scholarship 
and solid piety. Under the old conditions the institution could not go for- 
ward. Under the new conditions the future is bright with promise and the 
service will be far more efficient and worth while. A tremendous amount of 
work has been done in the erection of this plant. Thirteen buildings in brick 
and marble have been constructed within a period of twenty months. Many 
adverse conditions were encountered, but the architects and the construction 
company have proven their worth, their endurance, and their resourceful- 
ness in that they have made possible our opening to-day. 

I would not strike a minor chord in what is said. However, it is a matter 
of record that the Wesleyan campus has already become sacred by the sacri- 
fices of those devoted to the college. Immediately following the meeting of 
the Board of Trustees on May 25, 1928, Dr. S. R. Belk, while inspecting the 
new plant, was seized with a sudden heart attack and passed away on the 
spot where the chapel and administration building will be erected. Dr. 
Belk was a loyal friend to the college, and had been a member of the Board 


There is hardly a successful business man who could not afford to erect a building for some 
college or present to its endowment fund a substantial amount. This would be a real, enduring 
investment for him and his family. For this he would be loved and remembered more than 
for anything else he had done. Opportunities exist in every city for such gifts. The truly wise 
business man is seeking them and grasping these opportunities when brought convincingly to his 
alltention.—Roger Babson. 


28 A New Day ror Historic WESLEYAN 


of Trustees for many years. In 1927 he tendered the college a check for $2,- 
000, and thus established the Belk Lectureship. 

Wesleyan has made a large contribution, not only to the great forces of 
America, but to those of other lands. Through the faithful and devoted 
heralds of the cross, the light of this institution has been carried to the far 
corners of the earth. Within her sacred walls many foreign students have 
received tneir inspiration and have returned to their own lands to become 
leaders among their people. From many sections of America and from the 
Chairman of our Board of Trustees, Bisnop W. N. Ainsworth, who happens 
to be in Japan, messages of greeting and good will are registered with us on 
this opening day. Those who have invested of their time, their talent, and 
their possessions in the enlargement of these opportunities for our young 
women will find that their own cup of joy and of satisfaction shall be “‘ pressed 
down, shaken together, and running over.’’ So we receive this sacred trust 
from the hands and hearts of those who have gone before us. By the grace 
of the same God who led the children of Israel in the pillar of fire and the 
pillar of cloud, and who has guided the destinies of this beloved and sacred 
college, we shall go forward. 

Thus Wesleyan must keep step with the great movements of education. 
We must raise higher our standards, we must strengthen our faculty, we must 
increase our endowment, we must make adequate provision for the mag- 
nificent plant already erected, and we must make larger plans for the future. 
““Where the vanguard camps to-day, the rear must rest to-morrow.” 


LITERARY ADDRESS, DELIVERED MAY 27, 1929, BY 
HON. SAMUEL C. DOBBS, LL.D., ATLANTA, GA. 


STANDING amidst the scenes of the annual commencement exercises of this 
old and honored institution, one cannot exclude from consideration the impor- 
tance and value of Christian education. For well-nigh a century, Wesleyan 
College has been dispensing light to the young women of Georgia and other 
States and countries. The beams of the learning imparted by its faculties 
have passed beyond the seas and illumined distant lands, The lines of the 
beloved college have gone throughout the world, and its influence to the 
ends of the earth. 

Great expenditures of human effort and money have been put forth to 
accomplish these results in its one hundred years of existence. Why should 
all this have been done? 

The college is now entering upon a new era in its history, and more is being 
done and proposed for its larger development in the present and future, What 
is the meaning and purpose of all this? It is not to gratify local pride or 
aggrandize our ecclesiastical bodies, worthy as such motives might be es- 
teemed. 

It means that the founders of this institution put a high appraisement upon 
the education of young women, and that their successors place upon it a still 
higher valuation. The greatest and best resources of any people are found in 
their youth; and the development of these resources of youth brings the 
largest and most enduring returns. 

I have often thought that many of our people have overestimated the 


A. New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 29 


natural and material resources found in forest and fields, flocks and herds, 
crops and mines, and such indeed has been particularly true of our section; 
but a better era has dawned upon us, 

and it is shining more and more under 

the perfect day. 

I envy the youth of Georgia and 
the entire South to-day. No genera- 
tion which has gone before has had 
such abundant advantages and such 
inspiring opportunities. The only 
limitations upon what is possible for 
our young people now are found 
within their own purposes and ei- 
forts. The young women assembled 
here enjoy unusual facilities for men- 
tal and moral culture, facilities which 
exceed the brightest visions of those 
young women who have gone before 
them. 

You are the heirs of a great race. 
Your ancestors have written glorious- 
ly upon the pages of history. They 
have made sacrifices, which give you 
freedom of thought and action. You 
possess the heritage of martyrs, in- 


ventors, and scholars, and you enjoy DR. SAMUEL CANDLER DOBBS 
the results of the time and labor of the Member, Board of Trustees 
highest intellect and the broadest ex- 

perience. To-day the most modest mechanic enjoys opportunities which 
Cesar, with all the world under his dominion, did not have. 

Our great ocean liners, as they plow their way over trackless wastes, are 
constantly in touch with the affairs of the world, through messages conveyed 
to them on the waves of the air. Ona recent trip abroad, there was scarcely a 
day from the time I left New York until I landed at Havre that I was not in 
close touch with the affairs in my office and at my home in Atlanta. Wesitin 
our homes and enjoy a symphony concert played in New York, Boston, or 
Chicago. We hear every note just as it is played. Distance has been anni- 
hiliated and time eradicated. 

The only aristocracy that we know is that of labor and accomplishment, 
and the door of opportunity is open alike to the poorest of you as well as the 
richest. I am totally without patience with that individual who sits down and 
whines about lack of opportunity. Successful men and women make oppor- 
tunity rather than being made by it. 

A little more than twenty years ago, a poor, unknown mechanic was 
walking the streets of Detroit, looking for a job. He had an idea and refused 
to accept defeat on account of the lack of vision of the people he approached. 


I have observed for a number of years that the young women who are graduated from Wesleyan 
College are generally leaders in Church activities and civic affairs in thetr respective localities. 
In my opinion, no citizen could make a more worthy or fruitful investment than to subscribe to 
the fund for a Greater Wesleyan——Sam Rutherford, Member United States Congress. 


30 A New Day ror Historic WESLEYAN 


to-day, he is probably the world’s richest man. Nearly one-half million people 
respond to his every command, and the product of his factories is on the 
streets and highways of every civilized country on the globe. 

A clerk in a grocery store in his boyhood is to-day the world’s greatest 
philanthropist. He disperses annually untold millions in. the interest of 
science, health, and civilization. 

Lindbergh, a country boy from Minnesota, flew alone across the Atlantic 
and was received by kings and potentates of Europe. There was no friend 
to cheer him on his way, and his only companion was his superhuman courage 
which conquered space and vanquished distance. 

I like to sound this note of optimism to the young entrant into life’s great 
arena. For life is a battle, and opportunity doesn’t sit on one’s doorstep and 
wait to be invited in. Success must be wrung from an unwilling world by 
doing the job better than the other fellow. ; 

All of these things you have received without effort on your part. What are 
you willing to give in return for such a legacy? What is the value of an educa- 
tion to you? It is given to you through the sacrifice of your parents. Father 
has worked longer hours, and mother has given up little pleasures and often 
needed comforts, so that John and Sarah might receive advantages denied to 
them, 

But the lessons you have learned so far have been largely from books. The 
examples have been supplied to you. You have repeated what you have read. 
Very soon, you are to be thrown out on your own resources. There will be no 
faithful teacher by your side to help you solve your difficulties. Your educa- 
tion will be of little value to you if you have not learned to think and haven't 
the courage to do. The unlettered man or woman who knows the truth and 
speaks it, who recognizes his obligations to his neighbors, to his community 
and his country, and discharges them, is a far nobler type than the finished 
scholar who can write Ph.D. after his or her name, but renders no con- 
structive service to the community in which he lives. 

Millions of people saw apples fall before Siz Isaac Newton was ever born and 
thought nothing of it. He was the first one to wonder why the apple fell down 
instead of up, and he made himself immortal by announcing the law of 
gravitation. 

Radium, that marvelous thing that has attracted so much attention from 
the scientific world recently, was unknown until a modest, retiring little 
French woman, Madam Curie, after years of study and patient labor, an- 
nounced its discovery. 

Tropical countries were being devasted by yellow fever, and the world 
stood helplessly by while millions died. DeLesseps failed in his attempt to 
build the Panama Canal, after the expenditure of millions of dollars and the 
loss of thousands of lives, because no one knew how to prevent yellow fever. 
Dr. Walter Reed, a poor country boy, the son of an itinerant Methodist 
preacher, born in a little country parsonage in Virginia, discovered the origin 
of this dreadful disease in a mosquito; and, on account of Walter Reed’s un- 
selfish labors and scientific attainments, yellow fever has been practically 
wiped out of existence. All of the wealth of the world was not worth this one 
discovery. 

Now, young ladies, the question that I wish to propound to you to-day in all 
seriousness and solemnity is: What are you going to do with this education, 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 31 


now that you have it, or at least think you have it? Too many boys and 
girls, when they come out of college, seem to feel that the world owes them 
something, that their diploma is an open sesame to every door in life, and that 
it should be a passport to a life of luxury and ease. 

I sometimes fear the results of an easy education on the character of the 
coming generation. The martyred and illustrious Lincoln, who learned his 
lessons by the light of a pine-knot fire, knew the labor he had undergone to 
learn them, and he never forgot them; and in the work of doing so, his mind 
grew stronger, his will firmer, and his concentration greater. And he was 
typical of his day. There was a discipline which meted out punishment when 
lessons were not learned or rules violated, and the children of those days 
learned early in life that the penalty for violation of law was sure and severe. 
From all this came character, which made a strong, self-reliant people and 
which is your heritage and mine. 

Days of idleness and nights of luxurious ease and pleasure seeking are not 
the lot of the great. The only rewards worth while are those gained by the 
exercise of the sterner virtues. The great scholar, Euclid, was once teaching 
one of the European kings. This young potentate asked the old philosopher 
for an easy way to acquire knowledge. Whereupon he made the famous reply: 
“There is no royal road to learning.” 

So I would commend to you young ladies, soon to go out into the busy 
avenues of life, the eternal truth that life affords no laurel wreathes except 
through toil and sacrifice. 

Just here let me diverge just a little. You young women are soon to enter 
into the sphere of life’s activities. No doubt all of you have thought of and 
discussed among yourselves the question of a career. In this modern work-a- 
day world of ours, women are more and more entering into every form of gain- 
ful occupation. Some are becoming doctors, others lawyers. I saw recently 
where one woman had graduated from one of our Eastern universities as a 
mining engineer, a strange avocation for a woman. She has long dominated 
the field of nursing and teaching, which is well. No longer are the doors of any 
form of activity shut in her face. 

This new dream is not without its dangers, for it is diverting the mind and 
thoughts of the young women of this country from that greatest of all careers 
—Motherhood. 

The time was when speakers at colleges for women spoke more or less lightly 
of the dignity of woman and the exalted honor of wife and mother, but to-day 
it is a theme of paramount interest. Every thoughtful person is conscious of 
the dangerous change in these fundamental ideals upon which the structure 
of our civilization has been reared and which idea s are the inspiration of our 
social customs and belief. 

This world-filling talk of the emancipation of woman and equality of the 
sexes has brought our whole social structure into a crisis. This mixing on a 

Nothing affecting the educational interests of Georgia has brought more hope or given more 
courage to those of us who are directly connected with higher education in the State than the 
remarkable growth and development of Wesleyan under your administration and guidance. 
That your splendid program of expansion conceived, in wisdom and support by the faith and 
cooperation of the forward-looking people of the great Methodist Church, will be fully realized, 
goes without saying. With your new campus, new buildings and equipment, and enlarged and 
strengthened facully vou will be able to offer courses and degrees that will bear comparison with 


the very best of their kind in the country.—Charles M. Snelling, Chancellor, University of 
Georgia. 


AT A COST OF $1,800,000 THIRTEEN BUILDINGS IN BRICK AND MARBLE HAVE BEEN Effi 
AND ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, HAVE BEEN FIN fiD 


a ee 


; m4 t ae | 
mae WLU a i,  « a. & a ah be 


GENERAL BIRDS EYE VIEW 
OF 


GREATER WESLEYAN COLLEC€ 


WALKER & WEEKS — DUNWODYS OLIPHANT: - 
ARCHITECTS * ASSOCARCHITRETS 


HClTED. THOSE IN THE DARK COLORS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE CENTRAL CHAPEL 
RED. WHO WILL MAKE THIS BUILDING A REALITY? 


34 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


basis of equality of the terms of lawyer, doctor, business executive, and engi- 
neer with those of wife and mother is little short of being monstrous. As well 
might we attempt to assemble some fair star of Heaven with earth's little 
candle. 

We must rescue the supervalues and again set them high and apart from 
those of the purely materialistic. 

I am not ignorant of the economic exigencies of the modern, social, and 
business life; nor am I indifferent to the fact that woman's education ought 
to give her a training for self-support where circumstances demand it. But 
these conditions are exceptions. They are part of the imperfections of our 
social order. We must not build a civilization based on the exceptional, nor 
accept a doctrine of womanhood based on departures from the normal in our 
life. 

Permit me to say, with deepest meaning and with a passion born of the 
knowledge of the crisis, that the supercareer of earth is that of wife and 
mother. Men know this. Society rests upon it. History proclaims it. For 
God designed it so. It gathers to itself the career of teacher, nurse, physician, 
judge, minister, and prophet. Expert motherhood combines all of these and 
more. It is the road to the highest of all social service and to the most death- 
less of all influence and honor. 

There is a building on this campus, erected to the memory of a wonderful 
woman. She never aspired to any career outside of the sphere of home. She 
gave to Georgia an able judge, a splendid philanthropist, and a great preacher 
and a noble, Christian statesman, and four other sons who achieved prom- 
inence in their various walks of life. Just this last week a magnificent build- 
ing, named in the honor of her eldest daughter, was dedicated on the campus 
of Emory University—the Florence Candler Harris home for nurses. Can 
you imagine for one moment that Martha Beall Candler would have ex- 
changed the joys of motherhood for that of the highest political honor that 
could have been bestowed upon her? How often have I seen that withered 
little face light up with a heavenly joy when she sat modestly in her pew and 
listened to some great sermon from her preacher boy, the Bishop! 

Amelia, through the weary years, taught and inspired and whispered to her 
son of the hills of life and light. When we stand uncovered before the ashes of 
Basil the Great, or his equally great brother, St. Gregory, Amelia, the mother, 
shares the honors of her sons. 

As history draws for us the picture of Augustine, among the mightiest of the 
sons of woman, mankind turns to honor Monica, his beautiful and saintly 
mother. 

A tiny boy stood at eventide at his mother’s knee to read to her the boyish 
poem he had written during the day. With a heavenly patience and ex- 
quisite tact, the mother suggested and encouraged. ‘‘God bless you, my 
boy,’ she whispered. ‘‘ Write again.’’ So encouraged, this same boy, grown 
to manhood, was to strike with the master’s hand the full harp of poetry, 


Ancient in service, youthful and vigorous in action, increasing year by year in excellence, 
and steadily raising the standards of education, the Greater Wesleyan stands to-day in the 
front rank of American colleges for women. It offers opportunities for training in spirit, 
morals, and mind not excelled in our land. On behalf of Mercer University I extend to Greater 
Weslevan College sincere congratulations and pray that God may bless this noble institution 
of learning in the years to come even as in the days of yore.-—A. P. Montague, Acting Presi- 
dent, Mercer University. 


A New Day ror Historic WESLEYAN 35 


and when a world brings to the immortal Tennyson its laurel wreath, the 
honor is not his alone. 

Sometime ago, a distinguished English preacher, a scholarly and thoughtful 
man, was visiting in this country. He was invited to spend the week-end ina 
well-to-do home in the city of Baltimore, where he was thrown in intimate 
contact with the family—father, mother, two girls, and a small boy. 

These very modernistic young women were just completing their college 
work. Both were soon to receive their degrees—radiantly alive, their minds 
seething with the prospects of a career—which was distressing the hearts of 
those fond, and possibly old-fashioned, parents, for there was no economic 
necessity for them going into either business or the professions. 

My friend had been asked to talk with these girls and to try to dissuade 
them from their plans. Sunday evening, while sitting around the family 
circle, the matter had been under discussion for sometime, when a small boy, 
the baby of the family, came into the room. Somewhat abashed by the 
presence of this stranger, he timidly sidled over to his mother, crawled up 
into her lap and nestled his head on her bosom, there to find a place of refuge. 

The distinguished visitor turned to the young lady with whom he had been 
rather fruitlessly arguing and pointed to that scene and said: ‘‘My dear 
young lady, you talk about a career and going out into the world and making 
a place for yourself, earning money, acquiring areputation. Do you think for 
one moment that that mother would swap her boy for the highest office in the 
land, or give up the joys of motherhood for all the university degrees on 
earth, or exchange the love and devotion of that boy for the wealth of a 
Morgan or a Rockefeller? No; she has found the greatest career that God 
ever gave to woman—Motherhood.”’ 

There is no bell that rings in the towers of Methodism that does not bear 
the message and the spirit of Susannah Wesley, the great mother of that 
incomparable son, John Wesley. She was the mother of nineteen children, 
lived in a humble parsonage, fought against the grim shadow of want; but she 
so taught and loved that she gave to our world John and Charles Wesley, 
one, the greatest of all evangelists; the other, the most heavenly singer of all 
time. 

Behind every great personality that has illumined the pages of history, if you 
will search carefully, you will likely find the influence of some consecrated and 
devoted mother. 

It was a poor peasant mother who gave to the world the Babe born in 
Bethlehem, and when he died he was buried in a borrowed tomb. 

Not from conspicuous corners in crowded streets have come, or will come, 
the great vital influence of our lives; but when the great book of life is opened, 
the simple, brave, sweet services of the King’s unknown soldiers, of the de- 
voted mothers of men, who toiled in obscurity and suffered in poverty, will 
then be gloriously honored by Him who seeth in secret, and angelic forms will 
walk gladly in the train which does reverence to their heroic lives. 


In closing, I remind you of that humble and devoted woman, who achieved 
immortality when she came to Jesus just a short while before his crucifixion, 
and, breaking the alabaster box of precious ointment, anointed his head and 
with penitential tears bathed his feet and wiped them with the hairs of her 
head, They would have sent her away, as they considered her unfit even so 


36 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


much as to touch him; but he rebuked them and said: ‘‘Leave her alone. She 
hath done what she could.” 

There Christ sounded the eternal doctrine of unselfish service that has come 
down to us through the ages. ‘‘She hath done what she could.”’ And I can 
wish for every one of you, so soon to leave these sacred walls and to go out 
from this college to take up the duties of life, that when you have finished 
your work, and the last sad rites are being spoken, it can be truthfully said of 
you: ‘‘She hath done what she could.” 


[From the Wesleyan Christian Advocate of May 31, 1929.] 


UNVEILING OF THE PORTRAIT OF MRS. MARTHA 
BEALL CANDLER, MAY 23, 1929, 4 P.M. 


ONE of the most beautiful and impressive features of the recent 
commencement of Wesleyan College was the unveiling of the 
portrait of Mrs. Martha Beall Candler in the elegant Library 
Building presented to the college by Judge John S. Candler as a 
memorial to his father and mother. 

The portrait is a full-length, life-size picture, done in oil by Miss 
Margaret Fitshugh Browne. It is advantageously placed, facing 
the main entrance to the library. This admirable painting of this 
old-fashioned mother who has made such magnificient contribu- 
tion to the generations will be a wholesome influence upon the 
coming home makers of the South. 

The speech of presentation was made by Mrs. J. Sam Guy in be- 
half of her father, Judge John S. Candler. Following this address, 
the portrait was unveiled by her great-granddaughters, Florrie 
Margaret Guy and Margaret Louisa Candler, as the audience 
reverently stood. Dr. W. F. Quillian, president of Wesleyan 
College, then accepted the painting on behalf of the college. 

We are pleased to be permitted to reproduce for our readers these 
addresses: 

SPEECH OF PRESENTATION 

This building was given by my father as a memorial to his father and 
mother, and to-day it is my happy privilege to present a portrait of his mother, 
done in oil by Miss Margaret Fitshugh Browne, hoping that this little old- 


fashioned mother may be an inspiration to you future mothers of the South. 
She was less than five feet tall and never weighed over ninety-five pounds in 


What worthier name in all of Georgia history than Wesleyan! Init past, present, and future 
beneficenily meel. In it cherished and high traditions have nol operated against progress. Its 
ideals are of the highest and its methods of fulfilling them are practical. Its benedictions to 
Georgia and the South are as manifold as the examples of Southern womanhood that issue 
from its portals. Wesleyan's rich past is deserving of a yet richer and fuller future. All Geor- 
gia should codperate to this end.—Charles R. Crisp, Member United States Congress, 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN Fi 


her life, but her influence in her family was out of all proportion to her size. 
She brought up eleven children—eight boys and three girls. They lived near 
Villa Rica, a small town in North Georgia, and had not the advantages that 
most of us have had of libraries, concerts, and art exhibits, but she was a 
lover of truth and beauty and taught her children to love good books, poetry, 
music, and the beauty of the world about them. This building seems pe- 
culiarly fitting as a memorial to her, because of this love of beauty and 
knowledge which she instilled into the lives of her children. 

Her home was ever open to guests. Ministers of all denominations were 
entertained there when they came to preach near by. The children were given 
the privilege of listening to them in the home and were never sent to the sec- 
ond table or the kitchen as was the habit in many of the homes of that day. 

She was a little woman of great poise and dignity and taught her children, 
not only love for truth and beauty, but also respect for authority. Her word 
was law, and the law was respected and obeyed at all times. 

The word fear was not in her vocabulary. When she was first married, her 
husband was in charge of the Cherokee Indians of North Georgia. She rode 
with him, and worked with him among the Indians, ministering to their needs 
and speaking their language. Their respect for her was no less than that for 
her husband, though she was little more than a child at that time. With such 
courage of her own it is only natural that she should teach her children to 
fear nothing, except to do wrong. ‘‘Be sure you are right, then go ahead,” 
might have been the family motto. 

When the War between the States came, though her husband had opposed 
the secession of Georgia at the convention of Charleston, they sent their three 
oldest sons, the youngest of whom was only fifteen years old, to fight for the 
South. She made every sacrifice of comfort to help the cause. At the end of 
the war they had put everything they had into the Lost Cause. They cour- 
ageously took up the rebuilding and readjusting of their lives to new circum- 
stances. Her husband died in 1873, and she bravely carried on, and managed 
to send the two youngest sons, Bishop Candler and my father, to Emory Col- 
lege. They had to make good. They couldn’t disappoint the little mother 
who was expecting so much of them. 

Whenever you look at this portrait, may it recall to you the love of truth, 
respect of law, and indomitable courage of this mother, who gave these things 
to her children, and may she be an inspiration to you, is the wish of my father, 
in placing her portrait here, where you carry on your search for knowledge and 
truth and all that goes into the fine Southern womanhood for which this great 
institution stands. 


ADDRESS OF ACCEPTANCE BY Dr. W. F. QUILLIAN 


The occasion which brings us together is at once beautiful and historic. 
Ex-President Calvin Coolidge has said: “‘To place your name, by gift or be- 
quest, in the keeping of an active university is to be sure that the name and the 
project with which it is associated will continue down the centuries to quicken 


Wesleyan College is the oldest college for women in the world. For a number of years I 
have appreciated the great service the college ts rendering. During all these years Wesleyan 
has given faithful and efficient service fo the young women of Georgia and the South. The 
character of tts work deserves the highest pratse—Hoke Smith, Former Governor, United 
States Senator, and Secretary of the Interior. 


38 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


the minds and hearts of youth, and thus make a permanent contribution to 
the welfare of humanity.’’ Judge John Slaughter Candler, in presenting this 
splendid building to Wesleyan College, has not chosen to perpetuate his own 
name, but has made it a memorial to his father and mother, Samuel Charles 
Candler and Martha Beall Candler. 

To say that a Candler is distinguished is commonplace. No family in 
Georgia has made a larger contribution to both Church and State, and no 
mother has rendered a greater service to our Southern civilization than did 
this wonderful woman whose portrait is unveiled to-day. Since revolutionary 
days the Candlers have been conspicuous for their service in things social, 
political, and religious. The tablets which adorn the entrance to this library 
show that Samuel Charles Candler was born in Columbia County, Ga., 
December 6, 1809, and that Martha Beall Candler was born December 6, 
1819 in Franklin County, Ga. She died July 3, 1897. Daniel Candler, the 
father of Samuel Charles Candler, was a Senator in the General Assembly of 
Georgia just prior to his death, which occurred in his thirty-fourth year. 
Samuel Charles Candler was the first Senator in the Georgia Legislature from 
the senatorial district in which Cherokee County is now located. This terri- 
tory was divided into counties and districts following the removal of the 
Cherokee Indians to the Indian Tercitory. Later he moved to Carroll County, 
and lived there until the date of his death on the 13th of November, 1873. He 
was representative in the Georgia legislature for several terms and was a Sen- 
ator from the old Thirty-Seventh District at the first session of the legislature 
after the War between the States and also for a term prior to the War between 
the States. He was distinguished in national and political affairs and rendered 
a service which meant much to the State and the nation. On the 8th of 
December, 1833, Samuel Charles Candler was married to Martha Bernetta 
Beall, a daughter of Noble Felix Beall and Sarah Justinna Hooper. 

The Beall and Hooper families came to Maryland with Lord Baltimore. In 
Scotland these families followed Calvin, but in America they became mem- 
bers of the primitive Baptist Church, and with this Church Martha Beall 
Candler united at the age of fourteen. In 1866, Samuel Charles Candler and 
Martha Beall Candler united with the Methodist Church at Villa Rica, Ga. 
That was a great day for Methodism. 

Eleven children were born to this union. All of them achieved distinction 
and many of them made remarkable contributions to the welfare of the nation 
through their children. While we honor the parents, and while we rejoice in 
the beautiful tribute paid to this devoted mother of a devoted son, we would 
remind ourselves that perhaps the largest service they rendered was the gift 
of their noble children to Georgia and the South. 

Milton A. Candler was the oldest. He was followed by Ezekiel Candler, 
Noble Daniel Candler, Julia Florence Candler, afterwards the wife of Col. 
James Watkins Harris; William Beall Candler, Sarah Justianna Candler, af- 
terwards the wife of Joseph J. Willard, Elizabeth Frances Candler, afterwards 
the wife of H. H. Dobbs, Asa Griggs Candler, Samuel Charles Candler, Jr., 


With your new campus and modern plant, the strengthened faculty which you contemplate, 
and the fine spirit of old Wesleyan, I am sure that there will be no better institution tn the 
country where we can send our girls to be educated and trained for Christian service. I feel 
sure thal the people of Georgia could make no better investment than having a part in building 
the Greater Wesleyan.—Harvey W. Cox, President of Emory University. 


A New Day ror Historic WESLEYAN 39 


Warren Akin Candler, and John Slaughter Candler. Descendants of this re- 
markable couple have had a large place in the unfolding of the history 
Wesleyan College. Within the brief compass of this address, it is impossible 
even to touch the high points that could be mentioned. However, we must 
call attention to the fact that for many years Bishop Warren Akin Candler 
was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Wesleyan College; that Dr. 
Samuel Candler Dobbs is at present a member of this Board and a loyal friend 
of this institution and of the cause of Christian education; and that Judge 
John S. Candler, the youngest child of this family, has distinguished himself in 
many ways, and now donates this beautiful and imposing building to Wes- 
leyan College as an expression ot his devotion to the cause of Christian educa- 
tion and as a memorial to his distinguished parents. 

Another son of this union, the late Honorable Asa Griggs Candler, has 
made magnificient contributions to various institutions of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and has written his name high among the worthies 
of alltime. Bishop Warren A. Candler, great author, preaches, and ecclesias- 
tical statesman, senior bishop of his Church, and worthy leader of a great 
denomination, was the tenth child of this union. I confess that I am amazed 
at the marvelous contribution which this particular family has made to our 
Christian civilization. Only God can estimate how large a part of the credit 
for the splendid service and heroic achievements of these worthy descendants 
is due to Martha Beall Candler, whose beautiful portrait is unveiled before us 
this day. 


“The bravest battle that ever was fought, 
Shall I tell you where and when? 
On the maps of the world you will find it not; 
It was fought by the mothers of men.’ 


There she stands, calm, quiet, dignified, beautiful, with the fragrant roses of 
springtime scattered about her. Who can tell how great will be the silent 
influence of this portrait and of her life story over the coming generations of 
splendid young women who shall be gathered here from all parts of the world? 
All of her children have passed from earth except the honored senior bishop of 
our Church and the beloved jurist and philanthropist who presents this por- 
trait. Thousands of other sons and daughters through generations yet to 
come shall rise up and call her belssed! We trust that her gracious spirit may 
“test upon the daughters of Wesleyan and that the great peace of God which 
passeth all understanding may abide in the heart and life of her distinguished 
son, Judge John Slaughter Candler, who presents this portrait end whose con- 
secrated gift has made possible the Candler Memorial Library. 


PRESS NOTICES AND OTHER ARTICLES 
The New Wesleyan 


Wesleyan College’s new plant in Macon is an everlasting monument to 
the great and good in Southern Methodism. Christian education makes a 
long stride forward in that contribution to the material means of an education 
for the young woman who is fortunate enough to enroll there. The new plant 
should be the pride of Georgians who care about the unspeakable sacrifice 


40 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


and devotion to Christian progress which is represented in the millions ex- 
pended in the new and Greater Wesleyan. It is worth going many miles to 
see—and no prideful Georgian who goes there can come away without a 
thrill of joy and pride in that agency for the onward march of Christian wom- 
anhood in this country.—Cordele Dispatch. 


Greater Wesleyan Opens 


Splendid alike in fulfillment and in prophecy was the opening yesterday 
of the ninety-first year of Georgia’s. Wesleyan—Georgia’s and America’s, 
for the whole republic does honor to its pioneer in the higher education of 
women. In those fourscore years and ten our commonwealth has passed from 
peace and plenty to war and war’s grimmest aftermath, and has emerged 
again into an age of gold; has been tried in the fires that Providence holds for 
whom it would make strong, and has come forth with new luster. But no 
experience of those eventful decades has entered into the life of our people 
more deeply, more benignly, more beautifully, than the influence of Wesleyan. 
Into minds, into hearts, into homes, into the imperishable portion of humanity 
that starry influence has streamed, blessing not only those in the immediate 
circle of its radiance, but multitudes throughout our land, and lighting even 
the darkest ends of earth. No wonder it is that Wesleyan has grown, for 
she has carried within herself the very spirit of life and progress. Entering 
now into a greater habitation, she begins a new era, but begins it with the 
old faith, which is the old power. To President Quillian and to all who share 
with him the glory of this day, the Journal offers its heartiest congratulations 
and wishes Wesleyan a million happy good morrows.—Editorial in Atlanta 
Journal, September 13, 1929. 


The New Wesleyan 


The sentimentalist will not find himself wholly gleeful that the year opens 
for Wesleyan in the new home at Rivoli, because of th2 close association be- 
tween the college and this city, but he can have the assurance that the tradi- 
tions that have made Wesleyan so peculiarly itself will continue to hover 
about and color and warm the college. 

It is bound to be so. Wesleyan is not simply an institution. It has a per- 
sonality as definite as that of any human being. It wears about its head the 
lace cap of a kind old mother of another day, while in its feet there is the 
spring of youth. It holds within its breast the memories and the wisdom of 
almost a hundred years and imparts them to the fine young women it sends 
out through its doors. It has about it an atmosphere that is akin to the love 
that is never quite willing to release its hold and the feeling is reciprocal. 
For other colleges, the alumne may have their sentimental moments and their 
generous moments, but to Wesleyan, its alumnz come back year after year and 
year after year they work unremittingly for it. To them, it is actually the 
best. : 


It is with much pleasure that I note the forward steps being made by Wesleyan to enlarge its 
usefulness. I have always appreciated Wesleyan, and, having known a great number of the 
graduates of the institution, I have the highest regard for its student body and president, who has 
the confidence and admiration of the South. Wesleyan has for its ideal a Christian life, and this 
is fundamental in good citizenship and means safety for our State and nation. It gives me 
pleasure to indorse the movement now on for the Greater Wesleyan.—L. G. Hardman, Govern- 
or of Georgia. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN AI 


The spirit is not confined to the alumnae; it is a contagious spirit that has 
spread to the faculty and the officials and to the public they touch. A mem- 
ber of the faculty remarked only yesterday that she had “ prayed so long and 
worked so long for tne New Wesleyan,” that she felt almost as if she had built 
it. The college was not built by people wno are rich. There were a few major 
gifts, but the great bulk came from those who were willing to make a sacrifice, 
if necessary, to make the contributions. It was not built by money, but by 
faith and the inveterate, untiring driving power of the man who heads the 
institution and his official board and the loyalty of the faculty, the alumne, 
the students, and their public. 

Wesleyan’s new home is magnificent, far beyond the hopes of those who 
have so long known the old buildings on the hill, now to serve as a conserva- 
tory. It has every convenience that can be devised for the students and 
adequate arrangement for the class work and at the same time its architec- 
ture preserves the colonial simplicity befitting its age and dignity. As it 
enters its new home, Wesleyan has the best wishes and the felicitations of 
her admiring public.—Editorial by W. T. Anderson, in the Macon Telegraph, 
September 12, 1929. 


Candler at Wesleyan 

Bishop Candler, in the opening exercises at Wesleyan on last Wednesday 
was a unique figure, embodying as he did a renaissance, a breath of another 
day. Delivering his discours2 on the history and accomplishments of this 
Alma Mater of the womanhood of Georgia in particular and the world in 
general, he was like a page of manuscript some mother had written and 
tucked away in a family Bible in which she had set down her hopes and fears, 
her rules and regulations, her prayers for a nobler and loftier life. He was so 
informal that he was unconsciously humorous; so well informed that he was 
encyclopedic; so fluent in his narrating that the occasion was much like a 
fireside tale told by a father who had pride of ancestry and hope in posterity; 
he was like a flower from an old-fashioned garden, so sweet was his manner, 
so remindful of the sturdy qualities of earlier days. 

It was difficult to keep in mind while he was talking that this was an oc- 
casion of unusual momentousness, the dedication and opening to usefulness 
an institution costing three million dollars, an enterprise springing new and 
full panoplied into service, to replace the old one whose outgrown shell had 
been left in the midst of :ife’s unresting sea. So easy and de:ightfu. of man- 
ner, so devoid of ostentation, was the speaker, that one might have sat on 
the outside of the building and heard this old-fashioned Methodist parson 
talking and preaching and have seen trooping by all the faces of dear dead 
yesterdays—the little white church in the woods, with its bell steeple so prim, 
th green shutters, the heavy doors, and the separated pews for men and 
women, the little pulpit like a sentry box at the end of the church. There 
the buggies with red mud on the wheels, the horses and mules contentedly 
crunching their corn and fodder and bearing an aspect in keeping with the 
villagers who gather to worship in the old-fashioned way. 

““Whose lot forbade: Nor circumscribed alone 
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined: 
Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne 
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.” 


42 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


The parson’s voice piped and trebled, was minus the resonant quality that 
seems so essential in worship by other men. But what he lacked in youth 
and resonance was amply compensated for by the sincerity, simpiicity, and 
convincing quaiity of the man who always gave the impression that he was 
rendering account to his Father in heaven, and not to any of the earth 
earthy. There was none of that highly devotional, mysterious, far-away at- 
titude, but a plain, unvarnished tale he told, carrying his audience with him 
on a mission of pleasant recounting of achievement and hopes for more. 

Bishop Candler is a sweet and noble character and example in the world, 
and no man could have been better equipped or fitted for the pleasing task 
assumed by him in the dedication of this wonderful institution which should 
make all Georgia proud. At least one of the audience departed unable to 
determine whether his revelation of himself had been more enjoyable than the 
subject he amplified, or if the launching of this educational leviathan brought 
greater pleasure. 

Any way it might be taken, it was an hour filled with rich reward in the 
stimulation and generation of soulfulness.—Editorial by W. T. Anderson, 
Macon Telegraph, September 16, 1929. 


The New Wesleyan 


THERE is a mingling delight and regret in the hearts of the students re- 
turning to Wesleyan College in Macon this year. The old Wesleyan with 
its time-worn buildings, and the mellow atmosphere of a pioneer college, 
wherein the destinies of hundreds of young women have been moulded—tnat 
Wesleyan is no more. Tnose buildings now stand on the hill overlooking 
the city, a monument to the early educational era of our country. They will 
be used as a conservatory. 

New Wesleyan is magnificent. The buildings are constructed along the 
same colonial lines as their predecessors, preserving the old architectural 
dignity and atmosphere of the college, but they are modern in the equip- 
ment of the interior, the fittings of the classrooms, and other essentials. 

One of the interesting features of the erection of the new college is the 
splendid spirit which accompanied its financing. Aside from a few large gifts, 
the funds were raised almost entirely from the alumne and interested friends 
of the college who made some real sacrifice to give to the cause. 

Wesleyan boasts proudly of the spirit which is characteristic of her follow- 
ers, and which pervades not only the students, and faculty, but all those 
who have come in touch with her activities. The good wishes of the State 
are with this new vehicle of education, one of the most modern and enter- 
prising and at the same time traditional colleges in the South. The oldest 
woman’s college has become the most modern.— Savannah Press. 


Wesleyan Opens 


On the 12tn of September, a momentous celebration occurred on the heights 
north of the city of Macon in this State. It was on that day that Wesleyan, 


Wesleyan College, at Macon, Ga., is nol only the oldest college for women in the world, hav- 
ing been chartered as far back as 1836, bul it is one of the best colleges for women to be found in 
our country or in any other land. My only daughter was educated at Wesleyan, and I could not 
wish for the daughters of others anything better than the advantages offered by this great institu- 
tion.—Warren A. Candler, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 43 


the world’s first chartered college for women, was transferred from quarters 
in the city occupied for ninety years, to the new buildings provided to meet 
the requirements of a phenomenal growth. 

The new plant consists of twelve large buildings of brick and marble 
equipped with all modern provisions for convenience, comfort, and sanita- 
tion. Not one detail, from the central heating system up to perfect ventila- 
tion, has been omitted. For the purposes intended, the plant is as near 
perfect as intelligence, skill, and money could make it. It is, in fact, a veri- 
table triumph of architecture and engineering; and planned to endure the 
usage of a hundred years without depreciation. The student fortunate 
enough to enter these halls, destined to become classic, will find herself with- 
out a deterrent among the pnysical surroundings in her upward path to higher 
education. For the rest, it is sufficient to say, that the organization of educa- 
tors in charge of her development has no superior in America, and few equals. 
This is a large claim, but conditions justify it. 

Wesleyan is itself fortunate beyond expression in its location and sur- 

“roundings. Its one nundred and seveaty acres of gently rolling land is a 
plateau elevated far above the site of Macon with an almost unbroken 
horizon; and Macon has from the beginning ranked as one of the healthiest 
cities in the world. It is a city of twelve railroads grouped into five systems, 
and one great north and south trunk line passes directly in front of the colleze 
buildings. In addition several bus lines give hourly schedules, and by con- 
nections reach every section of the Southeastern States. The soil is of loam, 
superimposed on red clay; the water pure; the drainage natural and perfect. 

The old college was glorious in its pioneer existence. It made marvelous 
women of the girls who entered there; and these have given us glorious man- 
hood and womanhood as the fruitage; but the new Wesleyan is the Open Road 
for the Southern girls who are to live the dream of their mothers—absolute 
freedom within the laws of God and man. For that which the woman of the 
south has needed, and desired from the beginning, was room to grow. The 
new Wesleyan provides it without limitations. 

The writer of these lines was born within a stone’s throw of Wesleyan, and 
for the most part his long life has been within sight of its towers. He has seen 
it in direst poverty, and through the days and years of its slow ascent to 
prosperity. Noble men and devoted women have braved privations im- 
measurable to bring the institution through its long travail. Now, looking 
back, he realizes that the bent forms of the old teacners, patiently laboring 
at their tasks for a mere pittance, were the forms of heroes and heroines; 
that the spirit of each was the spirit of the crusader; the courage, that of the 
martyr. Invisible, they are yet the foundation on which rests the great col- 
lege of to-day. Deep down in the past they are buried, their service the gift 
of tireless hands; consecrated each and every one with love that was divine. 
Wesleyan stands triumphant, saved for a great destiny, through the service 
of her noble dead. 

But it is to living forces we owe the fulfilment of the dreams of that little 


For many years, I have been familiar, personally and officially, with the work of Wesleyan 
College at Macon. This institution has commanded, both at home and abroad, the respect and 
admiration of the leading men and women in education. The progress of this woman's college 
has been marked, and the plans already largely completed for the Greater Wesleyan will lift it 
even higher in the esteem of all—M. L. Brittain, President, Georgia School of Technology. 


44 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


group, who, nearly a hundred years ago, so long besieged the legislature for 
authority to launch the world’s first chartered college for women. 

The living forces that have planted the new Wesleyan on the eternal hills, 
and cleared the way to her full destiny, are a group of Georgians, for the most 
part successful business men, but led by a scholar with unlimited genius for 
. organization. In him the hour and the man have indeed met. So brilliant 
and outstanding has been his service, every friend of Wesleyan will know in 
advance that this reference is to Dr. William F. Quillian, its president. To 
conceive this dream, now expressed in brick and marble; to raise, through his 
eloquence and faith, nearly two million dollars for the cost; to inspire with 
zeal and confidence so many Southerners was a notable triumph in even these 
days of mighty accomplishments. The womanhood, the manhood of the 
South, the age he graces, owe him limitless gratitude. His fame is safe. 
He has built his own monument.—Harry Stillwell Edwards. 


Daughter of All the Ages 


ON a level plateau, just beyond the nortnern suburbs of tne city of Macon, 
in the State of Georgia, the highest level in che county of Bibb, fronting on 
the Dixie highway between Macon and Atlanta, lies the site of Greater Wes- 
leyan College, the venerable daughter of ail the ages, and mother of the 
woman colleges of the world. This tract of land fronts on the highway about 
three hundred and twenty-five feet, and embraces one hundred and eighty- 
six acres. It is the scene of boundless activity, for here, with rush orders, 
are being erected the units which, when completed, will constitute the 
Greater Wesleyan, and for generations serve as the home of thousands of 
girls seeking the higher education promised in its charter, now nearly a 
hundred years old. 

The progress of the work of construction has been amazing. The build- 
ings, already gigantic, are at a stage when it may be confidently promised 
and is, that next September will see four or five hundred girls installed in 
them, and classes being taught. The great library, gift of one of the famous 
Atlanta Candlers, is practically finished, the vast dormitories approaching 
completion, the language and sciences building well under way, and founda- 
tions for other units are being laid. The work under way and contracted 
for calls for an outlay of one and a half million dollars. To complete the 
plans shown by the beautiful picture from the architects will require another 
million and a half. Work under a committee of Georgia’s most successful 
business men, led by the genius of the movement, Dr. William F. Quillian, 
president of Wesleyan, will be pushed to completion. No one doubts that 
the necessary funds will appear as needed. The South is immensely proud 
of this college, and the whole union is back of the sentiment and principles 
from which it was born. 

The original charter of this college bears the date of December 23, 1836, 
and the signatures of James Day, speaker of the house; Robert M. Echols, 


When the presenti Wesleyan plant is completed, Georgia will have an institution of higher 
education for women that will rank in every respect with the best in the country. We cannot 
afford to do less for our young womanhood than we have for our young men. It seems to me 
that Wesleyan's appeal demands the sympathelic interest of every friend of Christian educa- 
tion.—W. B. Beauchamp, Bishop Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 45 


president of the senate, and William Schley, Governor of Georgia. This is 
the record. No where in the world is there record of a woman’s chartered 
college so old. It antedates the famous colleges for women in America by 
fifteen to twenty-five years. It antedates all organizations for equalily be- 
tween the sexes. This equality was clearly expressed in the first literature 
that was sent out by the college authorities. ‘‘The object of the founders of 
this institution is to offer opportunities to our daughters equal to those en- 
joyed by our sons.” 

The first name chosen for the institution was the Georgia Female College. 
The bill creating the college was at once, if not twice, defeated by ridicule in 
the legislature. The argumerts used against it are laughable even now. 
But that gallant Georgian, Duncan Campbell, put all of his eloquence into 
the fight, and finally the charter was granted. The names of the charter 
members constitute an honor roll for all America. They are: James O° 
Andrew, Samuel K. Hodges, John W. Talley, Ignatious A. Few, William J. 
Parks, Lovick Pierce, Eiijah Sinclair, Henry G. Lamar, Jere Cowles, Robert 
Solomons, Augustus B. Longstreet, George Jewett, Ossian Gregory, Everard 
Hamilton, Walter T. Colquitt, and James A. Nisbet. 


The city of Macon was a community of about thirty-five hundred when 
this revolutionary and tremendous enterprise was undertaken. The main 
building and chapel were erected at a cost of $80,000. After a struggle last- 
ing four or five years the coliege was by agreement sold under a contractor’s 
lien, bought in by friends of the cause, reorganized and rechartered, without 
interruption of its services. The faculty which resigned during the change 
was immediately reél2cted. Thus reorganized the college became the proper- 
ty of the Georgia Methodist Conference and to this ownership the Florida 
Conference was later admitted. The new name chosen was Wesleyan 
Female Coilege. In 1919 it became the Wesleyan College, and so continues. 
From 1843 it has been under the care and control of the Methodists but never 
was a college less sectarian. Its student lists contain names of girls from 
every religious denomination. A Jewess has won first honor in the college 
and has taught English there. Nine students from China and Korea are 
theie now. The first classes of this college contained at the opening ninety 
girls. 

Before the year expired the number had reached one hundred and sixty. 
The first class, graduating in 1840, held eieven. The graduation of these 
must necessarily have been simultaneous. That is, their degrees must have 
been voted at one meeting. But in handing out the diplomas, alphabetical 
position brough® the first diploma from a woman's college, into the hand of 
Miss Brewer afterwards to become Mrs. C. E. Benson, and the mother of the 
present Admiral Benson of the United Statzs Navy. That diploma hangs in 
the alumnz room at Wesleyan, a priceless relic. Education did not frighten 
away beaus and lovers from this class of eleven. Every one married and their 
descendants are with us unto this day. For their benefit and to keep the rec- 
ord clear, the names of these first women graduates of a woman’s college are 
given: Mrs. C. E. Benson, née Brewer; Mrs. Sarah V. Pierce, née Clopton; Mrs. 
Elizabeth Branham, née Floutnoy; Mrs. Anne E. Griswold, née Hardeman; 
Mrs. Sarah J. Hunter, née Flint; Mrs. Martha F. Beals, née Heard; Mrs. 
Julia M. Elder, mée Heard; Mrs. Sarah M. Ward, née Holt; Mrs. Matilda J. 


46 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


Brazeal, née Moore; Mrs. Harriet M. Boring, née Ross; Mrs. Mary L. Grimest 
née Ross; and Mrs. Margaret A. Stovall, née Speer. 

It should have been stated that when the final indebtedness of the college 
reached ten thousand dollars to clear the way for it eight men stepped forward 
and paid it. These were G. W. Persons, William Bailey, John Rawls, James 
Dean, William H. Ellison, Ambrose Chapman, James A. Everett, and Wil- 
liam Scott. 

Between three and four thousand girls have graduated from Wesleyan 
since its opening and as many more have been taught there. Remembering 
that the college was an experiment and without endowments, located in a 
small town, and with practically no railway facilities in the first stages of its 
life, and that the greatest war of history slew the young men of its territory 
and impoverished the whole people, it is no less than marvelous that this 
college should have continued ninety years without missing a session and 
emerge to-day as one of the grandest institutions of learning in the world. 
Was ever there finer fruitage from seed planted in faith and cultivated in 
manly honor? It is said that the whitest page of chivalry is the gift of equal 
rights to women at the hands of man. Perhaps there is much in that. But 
women fought for seventy years for these rights. What should be said of 
the men of Georgia, who, unsolicited, set up in the center of the State a col- 
lege for women, to give them equal advantages with their sons—and tnrougn 
years of dire want and hardship nave gallantly sustained it? All honor to 
the pioneers, our fathers; to the mothers who have given their faith and al- 
legiance. 

In the center of the splendid picture, which shows the completed Wesley- 
an fronting the highway and the railway, is the Administration Building, 
which in a way dominates‘all. It has not yet been begun. The money for 
it has not yet appeared. Is there among usa son of some sainted woman 
who will erect it asan imperishable monument to her? What an opportunity 
for wealth, for patriotism, for immortal love!—Harry Stillwell Edwards, 
Atlanta Journal, February 14, 1928. 


GENERAL STATEMENT: WESLEYAN COLLEGE 


1. WESLEYAN COLLEGE was chartered in the year 1836 and has 
experienced a steady growth and development throughout the 
nearly one hundred years of its history. It was chartered original- 
ly to do work of a similar grade to that done by institutions for 
men which offered the higher degree. It, therefore, bears the 
distinction of being the oldest chartered college for women in 
America and probably in the world. The first graduate was Miss 
Catherine Brewer, who became the mother of Admiral Benson of 
the United States Navy. A copy of the celebrated painting 


Wesleyan is too old and too great for its future to be limited to the interest and support of a 
denomination or a State. Greater Wesleyan will appeal strongly to the nation and to the women 
of the world because of ils pioneer work in the interest of education of women and its promise of 
maintaining leadership in the great work that il initiated nearly a century ago.—M. L. Dug- 
gan, State Superintendent of Schools. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 47 


‘“The Madonna of the Chair’’ was recently presented to Wesleyan 
College by Admiral Benson in memory of his mother. 


2. The College has sent forth more than three thousand gradu- 
ates, who have taken places of leadership in home, Church, and 
State. The average graduating class at the present time is seven- 
ty-five. The average enrollment for the past several years has 
been approximately four hundred. Students are present this 
year from sixteen States, China and Brazil. 

3. In the year 1920, the total assets of Wesleyan College 
amounted to approximately $749,000, of which $215,000 was 
endowment. Under the stimulus of a conditional offer of $100,000 
made by the General Education Board, of New York, the College 
has increased this endowment to approximately $600,000. The 
total assets of the college are now $3,300,000.00. In the year 
1924 an expansion program was projected looking to the erection 
of a new plant on a large campus in the immediate suburbs of 
Macon. With this in view, a campaign was enterprised in which 
more than a million dollars was subscribed and on which very satis- 
factory collections have been made. The authorities of the College 
proceeded to erect thirteen magnificent buildings in brick and 
marble on this spacious campus of 132 acres. The plant was com- 
pleted in the summer of 1928 and was occupied September 12th 
of that year. The plant has proved to be most efficient and the 
work of the institution has gone forward under these very favor- 
able conditions. The buildings have been erected at a cost of 
$1,800,000. 

4. The College is in a campaign to secure three million dollars 
over a period of ten years, celebrating the Centennial, 1936, with 
the removal of the indebtedness now on the institution for these 
buildings and with the increase of the endowment to $1,200,000. 
One million dollars of this amount ($3,000,000) has been secured. 

5. This institution serves a large and growing patronage in the 
Southeast. The College holds full membership in the American 
Association of Colleges, the American Council on Education, the 
American Association of University Women, the Association of 
Colleges and Secondary Schools in the Southern States, and the 
Association of Georgia Colleges. The standards have been con- 
stantly raised, and the faculty has been enlarged and strength- 


I affirm that, next to religion, education is the solution of all the problems that confront us. 
Education will reduce crime; it will reduce lawlessness. Money contributed to education will be 
one of the best investments that you can make. It will be an insurance policy on the property 
and estate you leave your children.—William D. Anderson, President Bibb Manufacturing 
Company, Chairman Building Committee, Wesleyan College, Macon. 


48 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


ened. As is shown in the catalogue, the faculty has increased 
from fifteen professors in 1920 to thirty-two professors and as- 
sistants in 1928. Five professors have the Ph.D. degree, six others 
have the equivalent of this degree and all members of the Faculty 
have the M.A. degree The demands upon the institution have 
made necessary the program of expansion. 


6. The institution is highly esteemed by those who have in- 
vestigated its history and achievements. The General Education 
Board of New York offered $100,000 to the College in the year 
1912, and, as above stated, made a second offer in 1921. The con- 
ditions on the second offer were met within two years, although 
a five-year period was allowed. The work of the institution has 
been highly recommended by Dr. George Foster Peabody, of 
Saratoga Springs, N. Y., as well as by many distinguished educa- 
tors in the South. The late Mr. B. N. Duke made a conditional 
gift of $100,000 to the institution and this amount was paid in 
full within twelve months after the gift was proposed. The con- 
dition imposed was that the College should secure an additional 
$200,000 within ninety days. By earnest, sacrificial effort this 
goal was reached and thus the first million was pledged. This is 
the first time that a college for women in the South has raised as 
much as one million dollars without the assistance of any board or 
organization. The College is entering upon a new era of develop- 
ment and service. 


7. Wesleyan has sent forth approximately 3,100 graduates who 
are rendering fine service in home, Church, and State throughout 
America and in several foreign nations. Many graduates of 
Wesleyan have secured higher degrees from leading institutions 
of America. The daughters of Bishops Parker, Payne, Granberry, 
Haygood, Key, Candler, Dickey, and Ainsworth, all of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, have attended Wesleyan. Among 
the distinguished women who have attended Wesleyan College 
may be mentioned Mrs. Young J. Allen, Miss Laura Haygood, 
and Miss Mary Culler White, missionaries to China; Miss Mar- 
garet Cook, missionary to Japan; Mrs. W. N. Ainsworth and Mrs. 
James E. Dickey, wives of bishops of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South; Mrs. W. F. Quillian, wife of the president of 
Wesleyan, Mrs. J. B. Cobb and Mrs. R. W. MacDonell, first sec- 
retaries of the Foreign and Home Departments, respectively, of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mesdames Walter 
D. Lamar, Walter F. Grace, J. E. Hayes, Oscar McKenzie, W. D. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 49 


Anderson, Samuel T. Coleman, R. K. Rambo, R. G. Stephens, 
Geo. Nunn, H. H. Dean, G. W. Mathews and others who have 
long been prominent in church, club and civic life. The daughters 
of the famous Soong family of China attended Wesleyan about 
twenty years ago and have taken conspicuous places of leadership 
in the life of that nation. The wife of the first President of China 
was Miss Chung Ling Soong, who became Mrs. Sun Yat Sen. 
The wife of the present President of China is her youngest sister, 
Miss Mae Ling Soong, now Mrs. Chaing Kai-Shek. The other 
sister is the wife of the Minister of Commerce. Induk Pak Kim 
of Korea, graduate of the class of 1928, is a traveling representative 
of the Student Volunteer Movement visiting the various colleges 
and universities of America. She will return to Korea after re- 
ceiving her M.A. at Columbia and will organize an industrial and 
literary school for the women of Korea. 


50 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


WESLEYAN COLLEGE 
Oldest College for Women in the World 


CHARTERED, 1836 


BisHop WILLIAM N, AINSWORTH, 
Chairman Board of Trustees 


Dr. WILLIAM F. QUILLIAN, 
President of the College 


Mr. W. R. RoGErs, JR. 
Secretary Board of Trustees 


Trustees 


BisHorp W. N. AINSWORTH, 
Chairman, Macon, Ga. 
Mr. W. D. ANDERSON, 
President Bibb Manufacturing Co., 
Macon, Ga. 
ReEv. Bascom Antuony, D.D., 
Presiding Elder, Thomasville, Ga. 
Rev. R. H. BARNETT, 
Agent Florida Methodist Orphans’ 
Home, Lakeland, Fla. 
Rev. J. W. Quitiian, D.D., 
Pastor Decatur Methodist Church, 
Atlanta, Ga. 
Rev. L. D. Lowe, D.D. 
Pastor, Gainesville, Fla. 
JupGE JouHN S. CANDLER, 
Attorney, Atlanta, Ga. 
Mrs. EpitH S. COLEMAN, 
Macon, Ga. 
Rev. O. F. Cook, 
Pastor First Methodist 
Albany, Ga. 
Dr. S. C. Doss, 
Capitalist, Atlanta, Ga. 
Rev. G. M. EAKEs, 
Pastor St. John Methodist Church, 
Augusta, Ga. 
REVS. DD) Erris, DADs 
General Secretary Board of Church 
Extension, Louisville, Ky. 
Justice H. W. HI, 
Supreme Court, Atlanta, Ga. 
REv. C. R. JENKINS, D.D., 
Pastor Mulberry Street Methodist 
Church, Macon, Ga. 
Rev. H. H. JONEs, 
Presiding Elder, Marietta, Ga. 


Church, 


Mr. R. O. JONEs, 
Attorney, Newnan, Ga. 
Mr. C. B. Lewis, 
Manufacturer, Macon, Ga. 
Mr. L. P. McCorp, 
Insurance, Jacksonville, Fla. 
Mrs. Bessie H. Nunn, 
Alumne Trustee, Perry, Ga. 
Mr. O. A. PARK, 
Attorney, Macon, Ga. 
Rev. A. M. Pierce, D.D. 
Editor Wesleyan Advocate, At- 
lanta, Ga. 
Mr. JAMEs H. Porter, 
Vice President Bibb Manufactur- 
ing Co., Macon, Ga. 
Rev. W. F. QuiILiian, D.D., 
President Wesleyan College, Ma- 
con, Ga. 
JUDGE ORRIN ROBERTS, 
Attorney, Monroe, Ga. 
Mr. J. M. RoGeErs, 
Attorney, Savannah, Ga. 
Mr. W. R. ROGERs, JR., 
Banker, Macon, Ga. 
Rev. W. A. SHELTON, D.D., 
Professor, Emory University, Ga. 
REv. W. F. SMITH, 
Pastor Methodist Church, Quit- 
man, Ga. 
Co. SAM TATE, 
President Georgia Marble 
Tate, Ga. 
Rev. J. A. THomAs, D.D., 
Pastor St. Luke Methodist 
Church, Columbus, Ga. 
Mrs. R. G. STEPHENS 
Alumne Trustee, Atlanta, Ga. 


Co: 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 51 


Mrs. H. H. DEAN, Rev. JOHN F. YARBOROUGH, 
Gainesville, Ga. Pastor Methodist Church, Mil- 
Rev. W. H. LaPrapbe, D.D., ledgeville, Ga. 
Presiding Elder, LaGrange, Ga. Mrs. W. D. ANDERSON 
Cot. T. J. WATKINS, Alumnz Trustee, Macon, Ga. 


Capitalist, Clearwater, Fla. 


Officers of the Faculty 


WitiiaM F. Quitiian, A.B., D.D. 
Emory 
President and Treasurer 


Leon P. Smit, A.B., M.S. 
Emory; University Chicago 
Vice President 


WALTER K. GREENE, A.B., A.M., Ph.D. 
Wofford, Vanderbilt, Harvard 
Dean of the College 


Iris Lit1AN WHITMAN, Ph.B., A.M., Ph.D. 
University Chicago; Columbia 
Chairman of Academic Council 


JaAMEs WALTER WricuTt Danie, A.B., A.M. 
Wofford; Vanderbilt 
Secretary of the Faculty 


JENNIE LoyaLt, A.B., A.M. 
Wesleyan; George Washington 
Alumnae Secretary 


VIRGINIA WENDEL 
Counselor of Women 


ELIZABETH WINN, A.B. 
Wesleyan 
Registrar 


For ihe last several years I have had good opportunittes to observe the work of Wesleyan Col- 
lege, and I do not hesitate to say that I regard tt as one of the very best institutions for the educa- 
tion of women in the entire South. Its educational standards are high, tts moral and religious 
ideals are unsurpassed by any institution with which I am acquatnied—Stonewall Anderson, 
General Secretary, Board of Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


FRIENDS OF WESLEYAN 


HON. BENJAMIN N. DUKE 
Philanthropist 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 53 


JUDGE JOHN S. CANDLER 
Trustee and Donor of Candler Memorial Library 


on 
_ 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


Cc. R. JENKINS MRS. H. H. DEAN 
Trustee and Former President Trustee 


MRS. WALTER J. GRACE, Sr. W. R. ROGERS, Jr. 
President Alumne Association Secretary Board of Trustees 


A New Day ror Historic WESLEYAN 


MRS. R. G. STEPHENS 
Alumne Trust 


[eae 


Mees 


MRS, EDITH STETSON COLEMAN 
Trustee 


50 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


HON. SAM TATE 
Trustee and Donor of Tate Language Hall 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 57 


DR. WALTER K. GREENE 
Dean of Wesleyan College 


HON. O. A. PARK © Bachrach 
Chairman Executive Committee and Vice Chairman MRS. WILLIAM D. ANDERSON 
Board of Trustees Alumnz Trustee 


58 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


HON. E. T. COMER 
Philanthropist, established Comer Loan Fund 


MRS. GEORGE NUNN 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 55) 


MRS. W. N. AINSWORTH 
Former President Alumnz Association. 


MRS. W. F. QUILLIAN 
Wife of President. W. F. Quillian 


60 A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


J. D. CRUMP JAMES H. PORTER 
Local Chairman Campaign Committee Trustee and Member Expansion Committee 


MRS. WALTER D. LAMAR R. D. TAYLOR 
Former Alumnez Trustee Prominent Macon Citizen 


A New Day For Historic WESLEYAN 


CATHERINE E. BREWER 


who became Mrs. W. S. Benson, mother of Admiral 
Benson, of the U. S. Navy. Mrs. Benson was the first 
woman to receive a degree from a chartered college for 
women. 


First Diploma ever awarded a woman by a chariered 
college for women. 


She who was first in the field must be foremost 
in the education and spiritual uplift of humanity. 


61 


Date 


YS 
\ 


ele 


w Cat no. 1137 


— “a 


376.8 


a 
“ 


i wil iin) 
D00469298 


| 
| 


W514Q 172419 


